


The Nico di Angelo Experiment

by fantasea_me



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Whooo first HoO fic, just a couple of dudes being gay, just a couple of guys being dudes, science? I guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 04:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3595590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantasea_me/pseuds/fantasea_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason Grace, proclaimed science nerd, loves experiments. That was all this was supposed to be. Why does Nico act so differently around others, versus Hazel or Reyna? Can they help him out of his shell by finding the hidden variable? He wasn't expecting the "experiment" to have pretty eyes and a witty mind and be very, very gay. </p><p>He wasn't expecting to fall in love, but sometimes the best experiments are the one you don't expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know about any grammar mistakes and comment, comment, comment! Thanks for reading U nerds

They were all hanging out in Jason's basement when Leo asked the question that started it all. 

"Have you ever noticed how different Nico acts around us versus Hazel?" Leo mentioned one day, bent over his chemistry kit. "It's like he's a different person." 

Piper snorted from where she had her nose stuck in her geometry book. 

"Everyone acts different around you, Leo. You're an anomaly." 

"Go back to your algebraic proofs, you freak." He grumbled. "Who actually enjoys math?" 

"Math is at the foundation of everything, Leo. Even your precious chemistry." 

"You win this round, McClean." 

"He's right, though." Chimed in Annabeth from the staircase, clicking on her laptop with a pencil in between her teeth. "Nico's pretty cold around me. Hardly ever speaks." 

"You just don't know Nico, then." Hazel countered from a barstool. "When he's comfortable around you, he never shuts up." 

Reyna, their proclaimed psychology queen, made a noise of agreement.   
"We talk all the time in AP English. He's kinda hilarious." 

"Nico?" Percy squawked, from his current position draped over Jason's ugly green couch. "He barely looks at me if I try to talk to him."

"He never laughs at my puns!" Leo complained. "Not even the one about the chickens playing baseball!" 

"That's because it isn't funny." Piper moaned. 

"What do you call it when a chicken hits it out of bounds?" 

"Leo seriously no one cares-" 

"A FOWL BALL!" He howled, wiping his eyes. "God, I'm hilarious." 

"Nico's a little in-between to me. We play Mythomagic sometimes, and he's pretty funny then. But anything else just shuts him down." Frank offered, trying to figure out a Rubix cube and ignoring his awaiting biology homework. 

They continued arguing about Nico's different sides. 

"He doesn't even like Disney movies!" Percy complained, and Hazel snorted. 

"Are you kidding me? He loves Disney and Pixar movies! We watch one every Sunday night!" She argued, throwing her arms wide. 

"No way!" Percy yelled back. "Leo and I were discussing The Little Mermaid and tried to bring him into the conversation, but he said he didn't like Disney movies, and ignored us for some stupid book!" 

"That's strange." Mused Annabeth. "Why would he not want to discuss something he really likes?" 

"Maybe he just doesn't like Percy and Leo. They are pretty rambunctious." Piper said, not looking up as she calculated sums in her head. 

"But he's known me for so long! He knows exactly what I'm like!" 

"Jason? Any opinions?" Reyna asked, and conversation stopped. He shrugged and looked down at his notebook. 

"Insufficient data. We've never really talked." 

"That's PERFECT!" Annabeth yelled, and they all jumped. She hopped onto the floor from her step and tucked the pencil behind her ear, eyes glinting dangerously. 

"What's perfect? My hot body?" 

"No, Leo. Jason's inexperience with Nico. It's perfect for an experiment!" 

"We don't need to do an experiment!" Hazel said, eyes wide. "My brother is funny and kind, and a great person! You all just make him nervous, and he shuts down." 

"But why?" Annabeth prompted. "What makes him shut down? What makes him uncomfortable?" 

"How do we avoid it?" Jason offered, and she snapped and pointed at him. 

"Jason gets it! We can use him as our test subject! Our guinea pig!" 

"Frank, aren't they being crazy?" Hazel asked. "Nico's a fun person to be around, right?" 

"Well Hazel, to me he's polite, and we hang out a lot, but it's like we can only talk about Mythomagic. He gets shy if I try to change topic." 

Annabeth had them compare their takes on Nico to rationalize doing an experiment, and they did, because you do not argue with Annabeth. 

From Leo: "Creepy and cold. Freaky-deaky inducing, if you will." 

Piper: "Quiet, but not in a bad way. You get the feeling he knows a lot about what's happening, but doesn't want to say anything." 

Percy: "I've known him forever, want to be his friend, and he won't give me the time of day. It's irritating." 

Reyna: "Sarcastic. He's smart and fast, and can evaluate a situation like no one I've ever seen. I like him better than Percy." 

Annabeth said he was cold, Hazel said he was warm. Leo said he was rude, Frank said he was polite. Percy said he was distant, Reyna said friendly. It looked like they all saw different sides to Nico. 

"So, let the Nico di Angelo experiment begin!" 

The plan was simple. Jason was to become Nico's friend, and do his best to find any possible triggers or other acts that made Nico uncomfortable. 

"It's a good idea. When we know what not to do, hopefully we can all become better friends." Annabeth promised. 

Even if Hazel was a bit wary of the situation, how heartless could she be to think her brother didn't need friends?

They got to planning. 

"The person he interacts with is our independent variable, how he reacts our dependent. Hazel, we'll conclude he's most comfortable around you. That makes you the control." Jason muttered as he wrote furiously in his notebook, eager to begin the experiment. It was science, after all. That he could do.

"You know, if Jason falls in love with Nico he's going to ruin our plans." 

"God Leo, shut up!" Jason protested. "Just because I'm bisexual doesn't mean I fall for every person I interact with." 

"Unless they're me." Piper added, laughing.

"Piper, we dated for two weeks before you started crushing on Connor Stoll and I realized I was bi. Not really the ideal outcome." 

She hit him with a book. 

"Still, dark hair, gorgeous eyes, sarcasm, way too sexy for their own good? Did I just describe Nico, or me? The world will never know." She said in a low voice. 

"And it doesn't want too, either." Jason concluded, slamming his notebook. 

"We've found all the variables. Now we need to do research, and form a hypothesis." 

"How exactly do you research a person?" Percy asked, poking his head out from the couch cushions. 

"We need material for Jason to talk to him with! Conversation starters, things to avoid! We need to know if Nico is actually a hostile person-not always, but sometimes, Hazel- or if we are all just doing something wrong."

They made a list for Jason to put in his pocket, filled with Nico information they gathered from each other. 

"Wouldn't his favorite color be black?" Leo questioned, and Hazel shrugged. 

"He may dress like it, but I know for a fact he likes the colors of the sunsets. He draws them a lot." 

"That's strange. All the more reason for an experiment." 

"Favorite movie is tied between anything Marvel and anything Disney? He seems like a horror movie kinda guy." 

"Hates them. Gets scared silly." 

"Ha! Loser." 

"Leo, you threw up the time we watched Silence of the Lambs. You're the loser, here" 

"Piper! You swore you wouldn't tell anyone!"

They got his favorite things, and some tidbits from Hazel, like how he could ice skate beautifully and drew things he liked even though they weren't that good. It sounded kind of like they were making Nico some dating profile. 

"Hypothesis?" 

"Jason will fall in love with Nico and they'll be banging like a screen door in a hurricane every night for a year until Nico tragically realizes he's in love with me, resulting in a love triangle that was doomed for the start- glubububibdahsg!" Leo screamed. Jason had dunked his head in the sink.

"You need Jesus." Percy stated simply, and they laughed. 

Really, they all did.  
~*~  
The next day was a Monday, and Jason had to swallow his nerves before he could walk into the school. Piper had been trying to "get him in the experiment zone" all weekend by showing him pictures of Nico that Hazel had sent her. It didn't work. Because Nico was attractive. Like, unfairly attractive. Jason had won the science fair three years in a row, and he was so much more nervous now than he had been the first time he'd accepted the award. It seemed like everywhere he went, one of his friends stuck their faces into his and wiggled their eyebrows, popping up from so many odd places he began to wonder if this wasn't some weird joke; since nearly all of them had a free period first hour, it was a never ending cycle. 

When Leo popped out of a trash can and screeched "Today's the day!" Jason drew the line. 

"Why are you all so pumped about me talking to Nico?" He exploded, already so done with today, before first hour even started. He guessed Leo's hypothesis was just wildly popular, aggravating as it was.

Piper batted her eyelashes.

"Maybe we think you're a perfect couple." 

"I haven't said two words to him yet!" He groaned, walking away from his annoying friends. Which, as it turned out, was exactly what they wanted. 

He collided with someone while he was looking angrily over his shoulder, the clang echoing through the empty hallway as he fell flat on his butt. 

He rubbed his nose and groaned, looking up to see who he'd run into while his friends chuckled behind him. He glared at them and stood up, trying not to let the room spin. 

"Sorry, I wasn't looking." He apologized, extending a hand towards whoever he had run into. 

"Yeah, you weren't looking." The person agreed bitterly, and he froze with their hand still clasped in his. 

Nico di Angelo. 

"You gonna let me up now, genius, or do I have to scale your mammoth arms?" Nico asked, face colored as Jason finally came to his senses and hauled him up.

"D-did you say mammoth arms?" He asked incredulously, but Nico only brushed off his aviator jacket and turned to stomp off, still scowling. Jason couldn't believe he'd ruined their experiment in under two minutes. This was a new low. 

"Go! Go!" Leo hissed, waving his arms at Nico. Piper mouthed the name of a band at him, and he nodded. 

"Um.......Fall Out Boy?" He questioned awkwardly, and Nico froze before turning around with a look of confusion on his face.

"What about them?" 

"Uh....they're your favorite band. Right?" 

Behind Jason, Leo smacked his head with his hand. "There goes my hypothesis." 

"How could you possibly know that?" Nico asked, looking vaguely interested. 

"You...uh...wore a t-shirt with them on it a few days ago. I like them, and I thought maybe we could....talk about them sometime." Jason finished lamely. 

Nico's interested expression dropped, and a hostile look over took his face. 

"No thanks. It's cool that you like them, though. See you around." 

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Jason dumbfounded behind him. 

"Well," Leo said, patting his back sympathetically, "looks like trial A was a failure." 

Jason couldn't help but sadly agree.  
~*~

"Trial A may have failed, but it did give us valuable information." Annabeth announced, flopping into a bean bag, once again in Jason's basement. Honestly, his friends were the most free-loading people he'd ever met. 

"For example, Nico actually attempted to make conversation when you mentioned his favorite band. Which you'll have to do research on, by the way."

"I already did." Jason looked up from where he and Percy were playing pool. 

"Then why didn't you try to talk to Nico about it?" She asked, irritated at him for flubbing the trial. 

"I'll tell you why." Percy announced proudly, standing on top of the pool table. 

"It's because...... HE WAS SO DISTRACTED BY NICO'S BE-OO-TE-FUL DARK EYES!"

"That is not why, Percy!" He hissed, tugging at his friend to get him off the table before he felt the need to start doing a striptease. "I was just....nervous. Yeah! It's an important experiment. I don't want to mess it up." 

His friends exchanged glances. 

"Well, just try not to do it tomorrow, okay? We've got something for you to use that'll knock his socks off." 

He almost expected it when Leo leaned over and whispered "It's a deluxe bag of chocolate flavored condo-" 

Leo hit the floor a little harder than expected, rubbing his head. 

"Ow!" He complained.   
~*~  
The next day, Jason was even more nervous. Piper had gotten him a Harry Potter t-shirt from somewhere, and had pulled a few strings with her dad to get a signed copy of the seventh book. Hazel assured them it was Nico's favorite, and would get him talking. Jason almost just wanted to stroke the book, hiss "My precious!" and scamper away. But they had an experiment to do. 

That morning, Jason waited and dreaded for fourth hour to come. It was one of the classes he shared with Nico, and since it was only P.E, and participation wasn't mandatory, they figured Nico's eyes would start wandering, seeing the book cover. His inner fanboy would definitely get him talking to Jason. 

So, almost wanting to go play basketball instead, he cracked open the book to a random page and started reading. He laid on his back so his shirt would be visible, and waited. 

And waited. 

Suddenly, a voice in his ear said "You haven't turned the page in a while." 

"Nico!" He jumped. "Yeah, it's just that this is...a really emotional part. Ya know? Have to keep rereading it." 

Thankfully he'd said the right thing because Nico nodded, understand. 

"That's actually my favorite book." Nico offered, and Jason fist pumped internally. All according to plan. 

"No, really? Mine too! See, I even got it signed."

"No way!" Nico gasped, reaching for the book but stopping himself suddenly, looking embarrassed. 

"Can i- can I look at it?" 

"Yeah, definitely. Here." Jason handed it to him and watched, amused as Nico took it slowly in his hands and stared at the signature. 

"How did you get this?" He breathed, forgetting himself and stroking it for a second. "This is amazing."

"It was a gift. You wanna borrow it?" 

"Ye-no. No! I couldn't. This is probably priceless or something, I can't take it." 

"It's borrowing." Jason assured him. "No worries." 

"I-really?" Despite his hard ass exterior, Jason knew Nico couldn't give up the chance to get his hands on his book. 

"What's the catch?" Nico asked bluntly, guarded once more. Jason exhaled. 

"No catch. Except-" 

"Ha! I knew it! There is a catch!" 

"It's not really a catch per say, more of an invitation." 

"I can't borrow this book without giving you something in return, Jason. That's asking too much." 

"Well....you could......" 

"Could what? Spit it out!" 

"Have lunch with me tomorrow!" Jason blurted, then smacked himself internally. 

"What?" Nico asked, blushing slightly. "What kind of sick joke is this?" 

"Not a joke!" Jason cried. "Seriously! It's just.....we hang out with the same people, like the same music and books. I want to get to know you better. Tomorrow, will you please sit with me at lunch? You don't even have to talk or anything. We can just read." 

Nico glared at him. 

"If this is some joke, Grace, I swear to god-"

"It's not! I just want to get to know you better! Maybe even become friends." Jason assured him, offering his hand to shake. 

Nico took it, still looking mystified. 

"Okay, I guess. But why are you shaking my hand? What are you, 50?" 

Jason looked away to hide his slight blush.  
~*~

Saying his friends were excited was a vicious understatement. 

Once again in his basement, eating his food, his friends all waited to hear how the trial went, especially with the added variable of the book. (Jason tried arguing that adding in outside things to help really undermined the true theme of the experiment. He was told to shut up.) 

The words "lunch with me" had barely left his mouth before they all jumped up, screeching in delight. Cheese puffs and popcorn fell from the ceiling in clumps like snow, since Leo and Piper had thrown their bowl's contents in the air and were wearing them as victory party hats. 

Sometimes Jason wondered if he needed new friends. 

While Piper and Leo were busy testing the durability of their bowl hats against each other, he turned to the ones actually paying attention. 

"Reyna and Hazel, you guys know Nico best. Anything he should avoid?" Annabeth asked. 

They both shrugged. 

"I'm just happy he's eating in the cafeteria. Since we don't have the same shift he usually eats in the library." Hazel said, giving Jason a quick hug. 

"Maybe this could become a regular thing!" 

"Reyna?" 

She flipped her dark braid over her shoulder, studying Jason. He shivered. 

Their relationship had been rocky to say the least, but had only recently started to heal into the friendship it was originally. Jason was glad, since she was the one who knew him best. 

They'd been stuffed into every leadership camp offered every year by their parents, but Jason knew no matter how confident he seemed Reyna would always be able to see right through him. 

And that was starting to become a problem.  
~*~  
Jason had three classes with Nico, and lunch. Fourth hour history, sixth hour PE, and seventh hour science.

Fourth period, coincidentally, was right before lunch. All hour Nico had avoided his eyes, and he was starting to get worried. He definitely didn't want to pressure Nico into lunch with him, but needed to make sure he was coming.

So, after the bell rang (he hadn't payed attention to one word all hour, which was odd for him) he made a beeline for the door and stood outside to wait for Nico. 

The smaller boy peered outside the doorway, seeming to sigh in relief but also look a little disappointed. However, as soon as he saw Jason, he abruptly straightened and froze. 

"Lunch?" Jason said simply, and Nico nodded. 

They walked to the cafeteria in awkward silence, not speaking. The girl's walking behind them occasionally giggled, and Jason had a sinking feeling they were laughing at him. Nico seemed to notice it as well, which just made Jason more flustered. 

Finally, they were at the cafeteria. Jason tried to reach out and hold the door open for the girls and Nico, but forgot he was holding all his school books, resulting in it all dropping to the floor. The girls laughed and chimed in their thanks, stepping over his things and continuing on. 

Nico stooped to help him, seeming both amused and irritated at the same time.

"Those girls really seemed to like you." He mentioned, and Jason's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Never mind. Forget it." Nico handed him a couple textbooks, looking away. 

"Let's go eat lunch now." 

They entered, and Jason set his stuff down at the nearest table.

"Sitting here okay?" 

"I've never really eaten in here before. Wherever you want's fine." Nico assured him as they parted ways to go get their respective lunches. 

As soon as Jason was out of sight, Nico let out a sigh and took the small paper bag containing his lunch out of his backpack.

Jason stressed about conversation all the way through the lunch line and all the way back to the table, only to find Nico already sitting there, munching on an apple. 

As it turned out, he shouldn't have worried. He didn't even need to turn away so he could check his list for conversation topics. It all came naturally. Even without Jason's cheat sheet, it turned out that they actually had a lot of common interests in things like books and movies. 

The only lull in the otherwise lively conversation was when Percy had appeared with the Stolls in tow, and they all took turns ruffling Nico's hair while he growled at them to stop. 

"So, Nicky's finally among the living for lunch, huh?" Travis joked. "Can you believe it, Connor?" 

"I certainly can't, Travis! Better check to make sure he's not a ghost...." 

Connor drove his hands into Nico's sides, right under his ribs, and Nico jumped straight in the air and squeaked quietly. He whirled around, red-faced and glaring. 

"Ignore them." Percy whispered, as the Stolls danced off to their next victim. 

"Hey Jason! Lookin' good!" Percy greeted, giving him a very not subtle thumbs up and heading off. 

Nico watched him go with a strange expression on his face, until he cleared his throat and turned back to Jason. 

"Um, where were we?" He asked, and Jason nearly melted in relief.   
~*~  
They ate together the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and- well, you get the idea. 

Every time his friends were over at his house, freeloading as usual, they expected an update on "their experiment." However, there wasn't really much to say. Jason wasn't really eager to recount every second of their conversations. 

"I'm serious, Leo. All we do is eat lunch together, and occasionally partner up for projects in our classes. We're hardly 'best friends' " 

"But you wanna be, don't ya? Don't ya don't ya DON'T YA?" Leo cried enthusiastically from behind Jason's TV, which he was "improving."'

Jason didn't answer. 

The next time they hung out together, however, Jason did have an update he was excited to share. 

"Okay, so usually after fourth period I always wait for Nico, to make sure he doesn't try to run away, right?" 

"A bit stalkerish, but correct." Percy agreed. 

"Well, today was the first day I didn't have to. He actually beat me to our table!" 

"That's great! It means you both eating lunch together has become routine." Annabeth cheered, high-fiving Piper. 

Jason really hoped so.   
~*~

In PE the next day, Jason got his opportunity to take their friendship or the next level. 

They'd been told to pair off and take turns helping each other with the bench press by Coach Hedge, who'd immediately left to go call his wife. She'd been pregnant for a while, and Jason had never seen Coach so excited about anything else before. 

(As proved by the time he'd grabbed Jason by the shirt collar and yelled "I'M GONNA BE A DAD, CUPCAKE!) 

Jason and Nico had kinda migrated together, since they didn't know anyone else. They flipped a coin, and Jason was sentenced to lift first while Nico spotted him. He'd much rather stand to the side and discuss books, but it wasn't like lifting was hard or anything. Just boring. 

Nico smirked at the look on his face. 

"It's gym class, not a prison, Grace. Try to smile." 

"You can't say anything about me needing to smile, Nico, and you know it."

"Touché." 

While they kept talking, Jason lifted. It was mindless and boring, but apparently interesting to Nico. 

"You aren't even trying!" He complained, adding more weights. 

"Why is this so easy to you?" 

"My dad makes me 'keep in shape'-as he calls it- as part of our agreement. I got to quit football, but have to do this crap on the weekends, and keep my grades up." 

"That's ironic." Nico said, giving a small smile. "You have to keep your grades up to stay OUT of sports." 

"Yeah, I guess." Jason laughed, easily lifting the extra pounds Nico kept adding on. 

"S'never really occurred to me before." 

Finally, Jason started straining to move the weights, just as the timer beeped for them to switch. 

"Jesus, Jason! That was over 90 pounds at the end." Nico whined. "You could probably lift me." 

"Maybe." Jason agreed, which then resulted in an awkward silence as he pictured himself lifting Nico. Then, as suddenly as the thought came, he pushed it away. 

He was not fulfilling Leo's hypothesis. 

He took some weight off some Nico could lift easily, and even though the other boy grumbled Jason could tell he was relieved. 

He didn't really get what the other boy was going on about. Nico was lifting the same weight as Jason in the beginning, and was barely even struggling. His arms were really muscley.....

NO. He was not admiring Nico's muscles! 

...

Ok, so he was totally admiring Nico's muscles. But that was fine, right? You were allowed to find your friends attractive. It wasn't a crime to acknowledge the fact that their forearms were freaking perfect. As long as he didn't act on this (hopefully brief) attraction, everything would be fine, right? 

Right?


	2. Fractions and Factors

Jason was freaking out. He had three tests tomorrow: in history, science, and one of Hedge's legendary obstacle courses in PE. All the classes he shared with Nico. Also the classes that, with the exception of science, he had not been paying attention to at all.

Because of one dark haired piece of crap named Nico di Angelo. 

"Piper, I don't even know what century we're studying in history! I know nothing!" 

"Jason, what's the problem? Have you really been zoning out all week?"

"Kinda? History is right before lunch, and I'm always trying to figure out if he's going to eat lunch with me or not." 

"I think it's pretty obvious by now that he will. It's been a week, right? If you really want to cement the relationship, just invite him over to study or something." 

Jason shot his head up, peeking over at Piper's feet, which hung over the top of his couch haphazardly. Her "comfy day" Uggs were covered in doodles, several of which depicted him getting hit in the head with a brick. 

She was the only person over right now, since they had a Saturday night tradition of watching cheesy romantic comedies and making fun of the plot. Except for when they cried over it. They kept quiet about that. Leo usually came as well, but was still grounded after he dyed Connor's hair pink a few days ago, since he'd walked in on the Stoll kissing Piper goodbye after a date. He was unapologetic, since "Piper is a princess. A pretty chill princess who hates being described as a princess, but still. Connor needs to stay ten feet back." 

"What, now?" He asked in disbelief. She shrugged, or at least he assumed she did. It was hard to tell when the only thing he could see were her feet. 

"Why not? It's barely even seven, and I have to leave soon if I want to catch the movie in the park with Connor. This month it's The Goonies." Piper said, beginning to stand. 

"I don't know, Pipes. I don't think I can- PIPER MCCLEAN YOU PUT MY PHONE DOWN NOW!" He yelped, lunging forward while she danced back nimbly. 

"Hey sexy, it's Jason. I have no idea on studying for the test tomorrow. Wanna come over to my place and help? Winky face." She read as she typed, grinning as Jason groaned. 

"I don't even know his number!" 

"I do. Hazel gave it to me." She winked. 

"There you go. First text sent, no need to thank me. Just hang out in your room, okay? Your basement looks like the lair of a teenage white boy with serious daddy money. Lemme know how it goes tomorrow!" She said cheerily, skipping up the stairs and out of sight. 

Jason groaned and fell back on the couch. His phone buzzed a few times, and he picked it up, expecting Leo so he could complain about Piper. 

"Hey Leo, guess what just-" 

"Uh, it's Nico, actually." Nico's voice came over the phone, sounding a bit nervous. 

"Oh, hey Nico!" Jason scrambled up. 

"Listen, were you serious about wanting me to come over? I thought I'd call and ask since the text didn't really sound like you....." 

"Yeah, that was Piper with the winky face." Jason said, struggling to sound cool. 

"Oh. So I'm guessing it was just a crank text? That's okay, I'll see you on Mond-"

"No, wait!" Jason yelled. "You can still come over! I live at 922 Olympus Lane, see you in fifteen minutes!" 

Panicked, he hung up. 

Then, he panicked about hanging up.

Lastly, he panicked about Nico coming over.

He shot up the stairs on all fours, grabbing the vacuum out of the kitchen and sprinting up another set of stairs until he found his bedroom. Throwing the door open, he surveyed it quickly. 

Definitely in need of a vacuum, with his desk a cluttered mess, but altogether not that bad. 

He wondered why he was so obsessive over what Nico would think of his room. They were trying to be friends, right? It obviously wasn't that big a deal. He wouldn't have cared if it was anyone else. 

He shook off the explanation that came to him. Nope. He was not crushing on Nico. That was so illogical, and if there was one thing Jason was not, it was illogical. 

Downstairs, the doorbell rang, and he was off like a shot. 

"Hey!" He said, perhaps a bit over enthusiastically, panting a little. Nico raised his eyebrows from across doorstep, and Jason took in his appearance.

Gray sweatpants, black t-shirt with his trademark jacket, and untied combat boots. 

"I-uh, I got dressed pretty quickly. I was already in bed when you called." 

"What? But it's barely seven!" Jason exclaimed. 

"I didn't think I had anything else to do, so I was just planning to chill until I fell asleep."

Suddenly, he squinted. 

"Since when do you wear glasses?"

Jason's hand flew to the bridge of his noise. 

"Oh." He chuckled, a bit embarrassed. "They're reading glasses. That's what I was doing before you got the text. Reading." 

"What, the perfect Jason Grace doesn't have perfect vision? Shocker." Nico cracked, and Jason stiffened. 

"Not perfect. By a long shot. Anyway, come on it." He lead Nico up to his room, nervously opening the door and watching as Nico surveyed it. 

"Nice place." 

"Um...thanks?" 

They sat on Jason's floor, dragging over several of his school books. 

"You said you needed help studying?" He asked, scooting to sit beside Jason and grabbing a highlighter from the desk. 

"This is what usually helps me. I just color code everything in blue, green, pink, and yellow. Blue is for vocabu-" 

Jason zoned out for a second, listening to Nico's voice. It was smooth and melodious, and he thought that, given the chance, he would gladly fall asleep to Nico talking. 

"-and pink, lastly, is for important dates. This helping at all?" 

Jason jumped. 

"Um, yeah! So much!"

Nico smiled fondly at him. "You weren't listening to a word I said, were you?" 

Jason looked down. 

"Sorry, history just isn't that interesting to me." 

Nico looked at the textbook fondly, almost stroking one of the pages. 

"It's been my favorite subject since I was ten." He confessed. 

"I like everything else well enough, but history just sticks with me, you know? All the things we can learn from the past, just there and waiting and-" 

"You're cute when you get all excited like this." Jason interrupted without thinking, and Nico waved him off without a thought, the words not even penetrating the pure joy he got from just talking about history.

"You should hang out with the rest of the group some time. You'd fit right in." 

Nico snorted. "Yeah, right." 

"No, seriously! We all have our subject we excel in, our passion. Hazel has her art, Piper has her math, Leo has his chemistry. Annabeth loves literature, and Frank's great at biology. Reyna's our psychology queen, and Percy's an ace at foreign languages. And I love science. We could use a history buff." 

"Science? Really?" Nico raised his eyebrows. 

Jason straightened. 

"Yes, really! Science is the best! It's experiments and educated guesses, it teaches you about the world around you and helps you make it better, and-" 

"You're cute when you get all excited like this." Nico teased. Jason blushed and swatted his arm. So he had heard him. 

For the next few hours, Nico helped him review history, and Jason chimed in little science tidbits and advice for the obstacle course, like breathing techniques and how to pick easiest way. 

Before they knew it, it was already eleven. 

Nico checked his watch, and his eyes widened. 

"Crap, I've got to get home." 

"Why, is Hazel going to miss you?" 

"Actually, I'm home alone tonight. She's spending the night at Piper's, probably doing exactly what we are." 

"Oh. Then do you have a ride coming ?" 

Nico shrugged. 

"I'll just walk. That's how I got here." 

"Nico, no!" Jason exclaimed. "That's dangerous!" 

Nico laughed. "Not for me. I can handle myself, trust me. I put my shoes on by myself and everything." He stood to go, only to be yanked back down by Jason. 

"Nope. You're going to get mugged and die. Sorry, you're staying here tonight." 

"I don't have any clothes." 

"We have a washing machine, I have extra pajamas." 

"I don't have a toothbrush." 

"Extras in the top cabinet of my bathroom." 

"You haven't asked your parents. " 

"Probably because they aren't here."

"Why are you so invested in making this happen?" 

"Why are you so against it?" 

"I'm not!" 

"Good!" 

"Wait, what? Ugh, never mind. Fine, I'll spend the night." 

"Yay!" 

"This is a one time thing, Grace." 

"Yeah, yeah yeah. This is going to be so much fun!" 

"Don't make me regret this even more than I already do."

Jason tried not to look that excited. It wasn't like he and Nico would even be doing much of anything. They'd probably go right to sleep. 

Still, this was a new level in their friendship, and he couldn't wait to tell the others. 

He grabbed some pizza from the fridge, blankets, and pillows, and ran back upstairs. 

"Got all the necessary supplies." He said, dumping it all on the floor. 

Nico smiled a bit at his enthusiasm, and looked around. 

"Can I borrow some pajamas now? And where's your bathroom?" 

"Right across the hall." Jason pointed out, grabbing some old sweatpants and a t-shirt and throwing them to Nico. 

"The maid should be in before we wake up to go to school. Just drop your clothes down the laundry chute in the bathroom and she'll take care of it." 

Nico didn't once cough the word "privileged" into his fist, like Leo would have. 

When he emerged from the bathroom, Jason was stunned into silence. He leant his other friends clothes all the time, so why was he finding it so adorable on Nico?

Maybe it's just because he's smaller and shorter than nearly everyone else. Jason's shirt was nearly swallowing him. 

Nico scowled. "Remember when I said you had mammoth arms? I stand by that statement. I look ridiculous." 

Jason laughed and pointed to the pallet he'd made on the floor. 

"You want floor or bed?" 

"Floor." Nico said automatically. "I'm not taking your bed." 

"Fine." Jason shrugged, the lights flickering out as he flipped the switch. 

"Night, Nico."

"Night, Jason." 

Jason fell asleep listening to Nico breath.

 

He woke briefly at about 2:00 AM, flipping over and swallowing a scream at the lump on his floor until he realized it was Nico. 

Sleeping Nico was much more relaxed than awake Nico. 

Swallowed by Jason's clothes, smiling sleepily, clutching the pillow in his arms like a teddy bear Nico was also nearly as adorable as regular Nico.

As hard as Jason tried to deny it, he realized he was hopelessly crushing on Nico di Angelo. However, he realized it on a cold Monday night, so he did the rational thing. 

He rolled back over and went to sleep.   
~*~

"JASON!" 

He bolted up, scared out of his mind. "What?" 

"We slept late! It's 7:15!"

With those words, he shot up out of bed, calling a "CRAP!" Loudly and grabbing random clothes off the dresser, racing alongside Nico to the bathroom.

They both brushed their teeth furiously, and he marveled at how incredibly domestic the entire scenario seemed. He couldn't revel in it, however, because he was late. 

"Gonna get my clothes!" Nico called, racing down the stairs, yanking Jason's sweatpants up as he went. 

Suddenly, he screamed.

"What is it?" Jason yelled, running after him, yanking on a new shirt. 

He found Nico staring at a small fluffy ball of death, ripping his shirt to shreds. 

"NO, Tempest!" Jason exclaimed, grabbing the dog and sighing at the shreds of Nico's clothes attached to its teeth. 

"Your dog just ate my clothes!" Nico said in disbelief. 

"We can't stop by your house to get new ones, so you're going to have to wear mine today." 

"What? No!" Nico yelped, taking a double look at the shredded remains of his clothes, the clock, and Jason. 

"Fine. Let's go before we get a detention." 

Jason smiled, turning away from Nico to hide it. He just looked really cute in Jason's clothes.

As they ran outside, Jason grabbed some keys off the banister along with a couple granola bars. 

"Do you even know how to drive?" Nico asked nervously, and Jason laughed. 

"I've had my license for about three months now. It's fine." 

He tore out of the driveway, staring at the clock. 

"Yeah, we should make it just in time. Here, eat this." He threw the granola bar in Nico's direction, and the boy looked at him in disbelief. 

"What? It's the most important meal of the day. Plus you have three tests today, so just eat it, alright?" 

They parked, tires screeching, with two minutes to spare. 

"I've got study this period, what about you?" Jason questioned. 

"Home Ec." Nico grumbled. "But Mrs. Hestia is really nice, so it's easy enough." 

They walked into the building together, and Jason saw his friends standing at the end of the hallway. 

"See you in history!" He called as they parted ways, and Nico smiled before sprinting down the hall. 

"Well." Piper said in his ear,"isn't this quite the development." 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Nico wearing your clothes to school is a brave way to come out as a couple. Congrats!" 

"Aw, man!" Percy whined. "Leo's hypothesis happened early! I thought it would be another week at least."

"So, Jason, wanna spill all the sexy details?" Leo questioned, wiggling his eyebrows. Jason blushed and looked away. 

"Actually, Pipes, can I talk to you? It's about something I realized last night...."  
~*~

Jason had second hour AP math with Hazel, coincidentally as it seemed. She was the only person he knew in the class, since Piper and the other girls were light years ahead, and the other guys were in grade level. Hazel, being a year younger, was still somehow the smartest in this sophomore math class. She helped him with proofs as long as he modeled for her art class. Everybody wins. 

"So....Nico spent the night at your house last night." 

"Yep." He answered, ignoring her look. 

"And he's wearing your clothes." 

"Big coincidence that means nothing. Trust me. My dog just-" 

"Does he know you like him?" 

"WHAT?" Jason yelped, and the sound echoed in the quiet classroom. He mouthed an apology at the teacher and went back to Hazel, whispering a much softer "WHAT?" 

She smiled gently at him, and he felt even more transparent than when he'd talked to Piper. 

"Jason, it's a little obvious. It has been from the beginning, even though you were obviously determined not to do so."

"Don't tell him." Jason begged, not even pretending anymore. 

"I don't think he's even into other guys." Jason said sadly, and looked up sharply when Hazel starting choking. 

When she finally swallowed that down, she looked at him in disbelief. 

"What?" He asked, and she shook her head. 

"Nothing. Just think it's high time you and my brother got a little closer, shared some secrets." 

"You got any tips on helping me do that?" 

She grinned wickedly, and he shivered.

"Three words: Movie marathon night."

"What?" Jason hissed. 

"How would a movie marathon help me with Nico?" 

She laughed quietly. 

"He talks so much during movies, especially ones he's seen before. He rambles on and on, usually saying things that he wouldn't be caught dead saying in another moment. Watch a series with him this weekend, and I guarantee that he will talk." 

"Hazel Levesque, you are positively evil." 

"Oh, I know." She laughed, and Jason smiled.

"And don't you forget it." 

"Grace, Levesque! Will I be needed to separate you two?"

"Uh....no ma'am." Jason replied quickly, ever the teachers pet. Hazel grinned at him, and he blushed.   
_______

Jason figured that since Nico had already spent the night once, asking him to come over for a movie marathon would be easy. He already knew that Nico could, and would, stay up all night until sunrise because he didn't feel like sleeping. Drinking a lot of energy drinks should keep him up, as well. Then he could hear whatever secret Hazel seemed to think was important. 

"A Harry Potter marathon?" Nico asked at lunch, and Jason nodded enthusiastically. They sat alone at the table by the wall, regularly enough now that no one gave them odd looks. 

"Sure." Nico shrugged, looking at Jason and smiling a small smile. 

"Sounds like fun." 

Jason thought it really, really did.   
________

Jason probably should have listened to Piper when she told him not to take Nico into his basement. 

Not two steps down, he started chuckling while glancing around. Jason's head turned to look at him, concerned. 

"What?" He said, and Nico swallowed his laughter. 

"Nothing, really. It's just that.....okay, so it is something. Your basement is just so.....stereotypical, I guess." 

"What?" Jason exclaimed, grabbing one of the wooden columns on the stair railing and spinning around to face Nico, who smiled. 

"Oh, come on. Green plush carpet everywhere? Pool table? Mini bar? Ugly leather couch in front of a huge TV? Is this not a stereotypical teenage hangout?" 

"I guess it is." Jason said, looking at it with new eyes. 

"My sister Thalia made it up like this when she was about ten. It's been around for as long as I can remember." 

"Thalia? I vaguely remember Thalia. How's she been?" 

"Well, she's running a man-free sorority at Stanford with an iron fist, so I suppose pretty good."

Nico blew breath out of his nose, as if that was exactly what he'd always known she'd do. He plunked himself down on the couch, kicking off his black combat boots and reaching for a blanket. They'd hung out, just the two of them, after school quite a bit, and the obvious nonchalance Nico felt here made Jason ridiculously happy. Yes, he still had this dumb puppy crush, but it would probably go away soon. Probably. 

He grabbed the first movie and popped it in, settling beside Nico under several blankets, clapping his hands so the light would click off. 

Nico coughed the word "Stereotypical" into his hand, and Jason grinned in the dark.  
_____

They'd gotten through four movies so far. Jason was on his third cup of coffee. 

He'd also lost all concept of time. 

Honestly, he saw what Hazel meant. Nico got so engrossed in the movie that he just said the first thing that came to his mind, which was helpful and a bit endearing. 

"I love the relationship between Ginny and the twins." Jason ventured, hoping to prove his thesis correct. Nico didn't even glance his way as he replied "Yeah, it's great. Kind of reminds me of how I used to interact with Percy when I was little." 

Jason blinked. Nico didn't seem to be aware of what he just said, or maybe he just didn't care. Hazel really was evil.

"What do you mean by that?" 

"Oh, didn't Percy tell you? I used to be a little firecracker. Wouldn't shut up around him. Honestly, I must've been really annoying."

Jason would never use the word annoying to describe anything Nico did, unless you counted his complete lack of self-esteem. 

"You know, Emma Watson is pretty cute." Jason started, and Nico snorted. 

"Yeah, but she doesn't really do it for me, if you catch my drift." 

Jason froze. Was this the reason Hazel had suggested a movie night? God, he had to test this. 

"I see your point." He started, trying to stay calm. "What about Rupert Grint?" 

"He's tall and awkward, I guess, and that can be cute. However, I kinda wanna kiss whoever that is playing Victor Krum."

"His name is Stanislav Ianevski." 

"I kinda wanna kiss Stanislav Ianevski." 

"Point taken." Jason laughed, looking at Nico and smiling. Now this was the boy he liked, as he liked him best. A little sleepy, very sarcastic, and funny. And amazingly: very gay. Very, very gay. 

He definitely liked that part. 

They suffered through Umbridge in "Order of the Phoeniex", and made scathing comments at the screen that the characters couldn't hear. If they could, however, Jason thought they'd laugh. Or maybe they'd put a lip-lock jinx on them. He wouldn't be opposed to that. 

By the time Deathly Hallows part one had rolled around, Jason had to physically hold his eyes open. Checking his phone, he saw that it was well past midnight, and they'd started at about 4:00 PM. Definitely the most successful marathon he'd ever had. 

Nico, seeming to feel his gaze, turned to look at Jason. 

"Someone's tired." He said playfully, and Jason laughed. 

"You don't sleep, do you? You're some supernatural creature, faking our friendship so you can eat me." 

"Oh, no. I've been found out. Whatever will I do?" Nico deadpanned, and Jason smirked. 

"Well, science is my favorite subject." Jason yawned, and Nico smiled. 

"It's my sci....scientific duty to find out what you are." He yawned again, widely and loudly. 

"Seriously, Jason. You can sleep. I don't care." Nico assured him, but Jason shook his head. 

"Nope. We said we were gonna marathon, and we are gonna marathon." 

"We're almost through the last movie by now. Trust me, this is the best marathon I've ever had. However, the memory will most likely be tainted if you collapse on the floor in front of everyone in the afternoon, due to exhaustion." 

Jason smiled. He arranged himself in a comfortable position on the couch, trying in vain to squeeze his legs up into the space as well.

"You can, erm...lay down on my lap, if you want." Nico offered, determinedly not looking at Jason. 

Without a word, Jason leaned over and rested on Nico, who didn't mention it. As he drifted off to sleep, he felt gentle fingers curling in his hair, and smiled.   
_________ 

When Jason woke up, he was alone. A note taped to the TV said   
"Sorry, had to go to mandatory tutoring in my nursing elective with a friend. See you at school tomorrow!" The drawing was accompanied by a small, bored, sick looking sad face, and Jason laughed. 

He checked his watch, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Wow. He'd slept all through Saturday night, and right into mid Sunday. That explained why he felt so well-rested. 

Hopping up, he decided that today, he'd be seeing Reyna. He really needed some help on his psych project, and Professor Lupa always insisted that she was her most gifted student. 

After a quick text to warn her he was coming over, he jumped the fence in his backyard and began to walk the few hundred feet to Reyna's. Being neighbors all their lives really had it's perks, homework needs aside. 

"Reyna!" He called, sliding open the screen door and walking inside. They did this all the time; just entering the other's house and calling out a warning. It was how they worked. 

He hopped up the stairs to her room, a bit worried by her lack of response. 

"Reyna?" He asked once last time, throwing open her door. Then he paused. 

Nico lay on her floor, Reyna was cross-legged on her bed with headphones on, and clutching Nico's hand and smiling annoyingly bright was the boy Jason vaguely recognized as the brilliant future doctor the nursing classes raved about. 

The one who was handsome and friendly, laid back but still a top notch student. The guy with the tan skin and shining white teeth, with blue eyes and blond hair that never dimmed, no matter who he was looking at. 

Will Solace. 

Holding Nico's hand. A blushing Nico, who hadn't even looked up when Jason walked in. 

Reyna definitely had some explaining to do.

"Jason!" The culprit herself called, tugging off her earphones and leaping over to give him a quick hug, her favorite purple coat flying out behind her. That was odd. Reyna wasn't really the hugging type. 

"Don't get all possessive, now." She whispered in his ear.   
"It's a nursing thing."

When she pulled back, she winked and gestured to her bed. He sat down on it, and acted like he was working on psych and not listening to Will being a perfectly smooth jerkwad to Jason's secret crush.

He gleaned from their conversation that their instructor was forcing them all to do live exams the next day, demonstrating how to properly treat a broken hand. Nico, apparently, was terrible at nursing and only got a good grade because of the rigorous notes he studied. Live exams couldn't be studied for, apparently. 

"Relax!" Reyna hissed. "You're being obvious and creepy." 

"Why are they even at your house?" Jason whispered back, and she shrugged. 

"We all take nursing together, and Nico needed a better tutor than me and a place to study. Will volunteered. What was I supposed to do, tell him he couldn't come over because you were in love with Nico?"

Jason resisted the irrational urge to say yes. 

Will was holding Nico's upper arm and smiling, wrapping the gauze around it way too slowly for it to be professional. The way he was rubbing his thumb over the back of Nico's hand the way Jason wanted to be doing was also way out of line. If he was a real doctor, Jason would have complained.

Nico squinted his eyes at the wrappings on his hand, nodding. 

"I get it now. Thanks for helping me." 

Will nodded and offered him a hand up. 

"Anytime!" He said brightly. 

"However, I wouldn't be putting any weight on that hand's nasty break for at least a week. Doctor's orders." He joked, and Nico actually smiled. 

Jason squeezed the pencil in his hand so hard it cracked in two, and Reyna's head flew up. 

"That's it!" She said firmly, grabbing his hand and marching him out of her room, past a very confused Will and Nico, who called out "Jason? What's wrong?" only to be ignored as Reyna lead him downstairs and slammed the laundry room door behind him. 

"Talk. What's the big deal?" 

"They're flirting!" Jason griped, gesturing his arms widely as if that could make her comprehend how terrible this whole thing was. The gravity and ridiculousness of the entire situation settled on him all at once, and he groaned as he hiked himself up on the washing machine, arms around his knees, taking up as little space as possible. 

"They're flirting, Nico's smiling, and it took me weeks to get him to smile like that at me and then pretty boy just waltzes by and winks and all of a sudden Nico's like a new person! And that shouldn't hurt me this much but it does, Reyna, it really does, because he didn't even notice when I came into the room and I shouldn't be this effected and into Nico but I am and it's not logical-"

Reyna shushed him, poking his side until he made room for her on the machine. They'd spent so many nights like this, curled up in some secluded room while their parents unknowingly competed to see who could screw their kids life up more. 

"Life isn't logical, Jason. Feelings aren't logical. I know you love science, and that's fine. You just have to realize that not everything can be solved easily, and that everthing doesn't come with a hypothesis." 

"I know." He groaned. "Life is just so much simpler when I look at it through a magnifying glass." 

"Don't I know it." She sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Jason, you like Nico a lot. Right?" 

"Of course." 

"Simple, then. Fight for him." She rationed, blunt as an axe. 

"I want to, Rey. But I just don't know if I can compete with Will."

She looked him in the eye, and he felt suddenly calm. Reyna had a way of doing that. 

"That's the beautiful thing about life, Jason. It doesn't always have to be a competition." 

He smiled. Reyna knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. There was a reason she was a prodigy psychologist, after all. 

"Of course, sometimes it is." She continued. 

"Then you have to crush your opponent."


	3. Chapter Three

Crushing Will, as it turned out, was much harder than Reyna made it sound. 

Try as Jason might, he couldn't find anything wrong with the guy. He was nice to everyone he met, played a majority of the instruments available in orchestra, and won choir competitions every other weekend. He never turned anything in late, not even lunch money. In the past three days Jason and his friends had spent watching him, they hadn't seen him do anything even in the range of being considered "bad." Seeing his competition, Jason was psyching himself out with worries. 

He'd been skulking down the hallway with Leo, discussing how irritatingly perfect Will was, when suddenly he felt himself being pulled into the janitor's closet, and heard the squawk that meant Leo was in the same situation. 

"Why are you following Will?" Someone hissed, and Jason squinted. 

"Lou Ellen?" 

She rolled her eyes. Jason turned his head and saw Cecil holding Leo. 

"I swear, Grace, if you plan on doing anything even remotely douchish to Will, I will personally grab a broken tree branch and-" 

"Jason's in love with Nico!" Leo blurted, interrupting her. 

"Leo!" Jason cried, seeing Cecil and Lou Ellen's eyes widen.

"He's jealous and thinks that Will wants to date Nico but he has dibs so we were following Will to see if it was possible for Nico to be interested in him and I must say that the guy is pretty perfect. Much more perfect than Jason-OOF!" He cried out as Jason's elbow dug into his ribs. 

Cecil crowed and turned to Lou Ellen, dropping Leo's arms. 

"I told you! I told you they weren't being douches, Jason's just an awkward gay nerd in love!" 

"Bisexual, actually." He muttered under his breath.   
"And wait- how did you know I liked Nico?" 

Lou Ellen laughed. 

"Jason, you have about as much grace and subtlety as a three legged cow in an ice rink. Anyone with eyes can see you're crushing." 

"And probably some people without them, too." Cecil chimed in. "You give off some pretty lovesick vibes." 

"I know, right?" Leo chuckled, turning to him as they laughed and conversed about Jason's, apparently obvious, lovesickness and lack of subtlety. 

"Don't worry, Jason." Lou Ellen said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

"Will and Nico are just really good friends. In fact, Will already knows about your crush. He'd never overstep his boundaries and pull something on Nico. I bet he'd be really happy to help you get together......." She hinted, proving that Jason was not the only with a lack of grace. 

"Although....The last irrationally flawless blond Nico befriended was Jason." Cecil mused. "And we can all see how that's turned out." 

Three "Shut up, Cecil" 's later, the Nico di Angelo experiment had three new members.   
______  
Jason really needed to invest in a new basement. It'd be bigger, with more snacks and furniture to seat all the people who thought they could just invite themselves over with no consequences. 

Nico had a dentist appointment that day, so they'd all gathered in the basement (without asking Jason) while he was on his way home. Jason was 99% sure they'd had a parade through the streets, just grabbing passerby to "join the cause" and helping themselves to his fridge. 

All the usual suspects were on the floor, while Lou Ellen, Cecil, Will, Connor, Travis, Drew, Katie, and Mitchell sat on   
the couch. 

"What the heck?" He screeched as he came down the stairs and turned on the lights. 

"Hey, Jason!" Leo greeted cheerfully. "We kind of invited a lot of people over, hope you don't mind." 

"It's all for a good cause, anyway." Connor assured him, eating a handful of popcorn. 

"The cause of getting into Nico's pants!" Travis added, and they all laughed. 

Jason dropped his backpack at the foot of the stairs and walked forward slowly, slightly dazed. 

Piper stood up and slung her arm around his shoulders, guiding him until he stood in front of the waiting crowd. 

"Okay, now that lover boy's here, let's get to it!" 

"Get to what?" He questioned, almost afraid to ask. 

Percy did a drumroll across the arm of the couch as Piper announced "Phase two of the Nico di Angelo experiment!" 

"Phase one, become friends, worked well enough. Now we have to get you together!" 

Jason raised his eyebrows. 

Leo raised his hand, grinning. 

"We'll probably make more phases later so you guys will do the frick frack and get married, but right now starting the relationship is the goal." 

Jason covered his flushed face with both of his hands as everyone made noises. 

"I don't know, guys. It's mostly just-"

"Shut up." Piper said, somehow still managing to be sweet. 

"I'm having a house party- er, get-together Friday night. By then, we'll have turned you into the perfect date!" 

He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could Percy tackled him, so all he managed to get out was a faint "Noooooooo-" as he smacked into the carpet. 

Drew stepped forward, hands on her hips, smiling. Except her smile wasn't really inviting and friendly; it actually kinda reminded Jason of a cobra. Anything venomous, really. 

She pulled several outfits out of a few bags, dumping them at his feet. 

"First things first-" 

"I'm the realest?" Leo chimed in from the other side of the room. Piper smacked him upside the head, despite her chuckle. Drew sighed. 

"Okay, until further notice you'll be wearing these to school. Absolutely no more of the baggy jeans, jerseys, and purple hoodies you've grown so....attached to." She said delicately, clearly disgusted by his fashion choices. 

"But I like the jerseys and hoodies." He muttered sadly, gazing at the khakis and button downs that Drew was supplying. 

"Aren't these a little too.....fancy?" 

She clucked her tongue and shook her head. 

"No such thing as too fancy, Jason. You want him to notice you, right?" 

Will smiled at him from across the room, and Jason's stomach turned. Even though Will had assured him several times that he had no interest in dating Nico,(which hadn't been all that reassuring; he'd simply shook Jason's hand and said in a slightly sad voice,"You had him first.") Jason was still nervous around him. Nothing was stopping Nico from having an unrequited crush, after all. 

Jason was already tired of this "Being Nico-repellant intervention", and that was before the suggestions started flowing in. 

He scrambled to write them down on the back of his cheat sheet, trying in vain to sort them into different categories based on time needed, positive outcome probability, and the possible public humiliation factor. 

"Nico seems to like the straightforward approach. Talk to him honestly!" 

"But not too honestly, clingy and all in your face is a serious turn-off." 

"Try to be interesting and mysterious! Hard to get is a sure way to make him want you." 

"Ha! Have you seen Jason trying to flirt? There is no way he can pull that off." 

Jason just stopped writing and lay on the floor in a despaired, slightly comatose pile while the suggestions flew on. 

He'd just try his best at school tomorrow.   
________

Jason was an idiot. 

He'd shown up to school wearing one of Drew's outfits, and he didn't miss the constant whistles from everyone. He was positive Nico didn't either, which was almost worse. 

He'd hadn't asked why Jason was dressed so nice. He hadn't asked why he was wearing cologne. He didn't question anything except Jason's answers on the math packet that was due the next day. It was driving him insane! 

Not to mention the fact that Leo was right. Jason really was terrible at flirting. He'd tried everything that seemed to work in movies: offering to carry Nico's books, trying to look cool by leaning against a locker, and generally just acting suave. Except Nico hadn't been carrying books at the time, meaning all Jason got was a raised eyebrow and a confused look. His foot had slipped off the locker after about two seconds, resulting in him bouncing around in the hall, clutching his seemingly broken toes while Nico chuckled. Finally, if there was one thing Jason was not, it was suave. 

They'd been eating lunch with Piper and Leo for once, who kept throwing small pieces of bread at Jason when Nico wasn't looking, mouthing "Flirt!" 

"Uh, Nico?" He started, biting his lip and trying to think of a pick-up line. 

"Yeah?" He looked up from his sandwich. 

"Um....your last name is Di Angelo, right?" 

"....yes?" 

"And that means 'The Angel' in Italian?" 

Piper nodded at him where Nico couldn't see, making keep going gestures. 

"Yeah." Nico said slowly, looking very confused. 

"So....did heaven hurt when you fell from- wait that's not right um did you hurt when heaven fell on you dang no hold on just oh god just listen I'm sorry-"

He was thankfully interrupted by two sounds. One was Piper snorting obnoxiously and starting to cackle, and the other was Leo spraying his mouthful of soda all over the table. The two collapsed against each other, actually in tears at Jason's ineptness, howling like monkeys and drawing the attention of nearly every person in the cafeteria. 

Jason tore his eyes away from the horror show that was his friends to stare at Nico, immediately wishing he hadn't. The Italian was bright red, staring at Jason in confusion and a little bit of anger before crumpling his paper bag in one hand and getting up to throw it away, the sound echoing through the near silent cafeteria aloof with Nico's footsteps as he left, shoulders hunched. 

Jason put his head down on the table, too embarrassed to care that it had landed in Leo's puddle of soda. 

The Nico di Angleo experiment had just encountered a new setback. No, it wasn't Will Solace. It was Jason's own enemy: his own stupidity. 

He was beginning to think that would be hardest to overcome.  
~*~  
Jason was bored. 

Percy and Annabeth were a date, and Reyna and Frank were at their respective sport practices. Leo and Piper said they were busy, which probably meant they were just blowing stuff up. Nico was staying after school to work on a test. 

He was laying on his bed, head dangling off the edge, and it came to him that he didn't really have that many people he was close to. Look at him now, for god's sake. Bored and lonely, because seven out of the about (maybe) ten people he trusted were busy. Thalia was gone, and he rarely saw her anymore. His dad was away on "business" (read: finding new women to sleep with) This meant his stepmom, Juno, had already stormed out in a jealous rage and wouldn't be back for several more weeks. When she was, she would pretend nothing was wrong, and they were a perfect family. She'd ask him about football, knowing good and well that he didn't play anymore. Jason didn't know if he could take that. 

Okay, wallowing in those thoughts was a bit destructive. 

He knew one person who wasn't busy, so he picked up his phone, punched in a few numbers, and held it up to his ear to listen to the ringing. 

"Hello?" 

"Hazel!" He cried, relieved to hear a friendly voice. "How've you been?" 

"Nothing's changed since school ended two hours ago, so I'm fine." She chuckled, and Jason smiled. 

"Listen, I'm bored out of my mind. Need a model?" 

"Actually, no." She said regretfully, and he sighed. 

"But you can come over and help me cook dinner." 

"Deal!"  
______

"So Jason, what made you call me? No offense or anything, but we never really hang out without the others." Hazel asked, apron around her waist and hair pulled back into a fast but efficient twist. 

"I was.....alone. And thinking too much." He said sincerely from his spot a few feet away by the sink. 

She smiled, a bit too sadly in Jason's opinion, and snapped her fingers to tell him that she wanted the raw chicken breasts. 

"I can do that part." Jason offered, but she shook her head and dropped them in the oil. 

"Sorry, Jason, but you're on cookie duty."

He huffed and moved to brush his hair back, and the empty bowl he was holding dropped out of his hands and sent up a mist of flour, covering his face and making him sneeze. 

She laughed, her point proven. 

"That's a lot of giggling for someone who doesn't notice when the water she's standing next to is boiling, Levesque." He teased, and she yelped and turned the dial on the oven all the way to the right. 

"Don't be mean." She said as she swatted his arm with a rag, making him drop a ball of dough into the flour and oil mixture below him, splashing him yet again with a healthy dose of flour. 

"How was I being mean? I warned you!"

"You didn't have to use that tone, Jason."

"What tone?" 

"That one!" She exclaimed, gesturing so wildly that some of the chicken juice (did chickens even have juices? He'd have to find out) flew across the room and landed on his cheek. 

He looked up, and Hazel laughed as he stood stoically while chicken juice ran down his cheek, hopefully looking more like a vicious warrior so manly he couldn't wipe the blood off his face, and not like, say, a boy standing in a kitchen with mysterious juices running down his face. 

"You." He said in a monotone voice, inching forward as his hand scooped up chocolate chips "Got chicken juice on my face." 

"Um, sorry?" She offered, not sounding very sorry at all. 

He threw the chocolate chips across the room, and she answered by throwing uncooked noodles back, the savage. 

Flour flew, and so did more suspicious juices that may or may not be from chickens. 

When Nico finally came home, it was to Jason and Hazel collapsed in the warzone of a kitchen, laughing their heads off. 

"What have you barbarians done to my kitchen?" He exclaimed, partly kidding and partly serious.   
_____

The dinner tasted good, at least. Jason had forgotten to space the cookies out evenly, so they had to cut them out of the gigantic lump that had formed on the pan. Hazel and Nico assured him they still tasted fine. 

"Well, I better leave." He yawned as he stood up, grabbing his things and walking towards the door. 

"Thanks for letting me come over!" 

"Anytime!" Hazel yelled back, and Nico smiled. 

Jason drove home in the dark, and wondered why there was a strange warmth in his chest.   
________

He sat alone in front of the TV, but he just couldn't make himself comfortable. The house felt too large, too empty with just him and Tempest. (And that little problem had run off as soon as Jason had fed him) Jason thought of Nico and Hazel's house- bigger than his, but so much more lived in, even with just the two of them. 

He'd barely been home for an hour and already he was starting to wallow around in self-pity mode. 

That had been one of the problems with dating Piper, he knew. He liked to be needed, and he liked to be surrounded by his friends at all times. He'd latched onto Piper, because he had desperately needed that self-defining romance he was always reading about. 

Oh, well. That was all over with anyway. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by the house phone ringing. 

"Hello?" 

"JASON!" He flinched at the sound of his step-mother's voice. 

"Oh- uh, hi, Juno." 

"So, Jason, I'm sorry that your father and I haven't been home lately, but I really wanted to talk to you about the upcoming tryouts for the soccer team!" 

"I don't play soccer." He said bluntly, and she giggled as if he'd said something hilarious. 

"Oh, I know that! But you've always been so athletic, surely you'd excel at soccer! It was such a shame you quit football, but just say the word and I can pull some strings and get you back on the team!" 

"I don't want to do soccer." 

"Don't be silly, Jason. Nobody likes it at first, but if you stick to it I'm sure-" 

"No, you aren't listening! I don't want to do soccer, so I'm not doing soccer." 

"Great, sweetie! Football, then? I'll call the coach tomorrow" 

"Juno, wait-" 

"Oh, Jay, your father will be so pleased, especially since this will give you a chance to get away from those certain, erm, less desirable friends." She said.

"Less desirable?" Jason demanded. "They're my friends, my best friends, actually." 

"Well of course they are now, sweetie. But wait a few years and there is no doubt in my mind that they will drag you down-"

"Percy swims. Annabeth plays soccer. Piper plays volleyball. Reyna plays basketball. Frank is the quarterback of the football team, for lord's sake! Hazel is famous for her drawings, and Leo is for his inventions. Nico's the best at history! How are any of them undesirable?" He asked into the phone, and she went dead quiet. 

"I must say, Jason Grace, I do not appreciate your tone." 

"And I don't appreciate you insinuating that my friends aren't good enough, Juno! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not perfect either." 

"Darling, nobody's perfect." She simpered. "But eventually, I'm sure you can come close." 

"If being perfect means living like you and my dad, I'm perfectly fine, thanks." 

Juno sighed, as if everything Jason said pained her. 

"You know, Jason, you sound exactly like Thalia did before she left." 

"So? What's wrong with sounding like Thalia?" 

 

"Whatever you say, Jason." She said coldly. "But I would expect a call from your father in the few days." She sniffed, before hanging up. 

He groaned, rolling over onto the couch and dropping the house phone on the floor. The sudden silence of the house pressed in on him, deafening and ringing in his ears. 

He snatched his own phone off the stand and dialed in the only number he could think of. 

"Hey, when you said I was welcome over any time, did you really mean it?"  
_______

"If you don't want me to ask, I won't." Nico said as he made up his own bed, throwing Jason a few pillows. 

"It's fine. I kinda want to talk about it." Jason assured him, busying himself by unfolding the pull-out couch they had managed to drag into Nico's room. 

"Okay, then. So.....why? Why did you come back over?" 

"Basically, my step-mom called me, and started doing this thing she does where she talks over anything I say and makes all these suggestions on how I can be perfect like her or my father. I cut her off-for once- and now she's in a bad mood." 

"I know how that goes." Nico grunted. "My step-mom doesn't like me much herself." 

"Really?" 

"Sometimes, I think she wants to kill me and use my decomposing body as mulch in her flower shop, so I can be turned into hundreds of dandelions." 

Jason threw his head back and laughed. 

They didn't have school the next day, so there was no need to go to bed early. They stayed up late playing Mario Kart and yelling at the screen, breaking occasionally for snacks and drinks. 

"What the heck, Nico? That blue shell was coming straight at you!" 

Nico shrugged. "Maybe you just suck at Mario Kart."

"Oh, that's the way you wanna play it? Smack talk? I expected more from you, Nico!" 

"And I expected you to not suck so much at Mario Kart!" Nico crowed, yanking the controller to the left and starting on his last lap. 

"Take that back!" 

"Stop sucking so much and I will!" 

"Nico di Angelo if you fire that thing at me I swear to god- WHAT THE HECK NICO NOW I'M IN LAST PLACE!" 

"That's the only place for losers in this world, Jason." 

"I WILL CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF AND GIVE IT TO YOUR STEPMOTHER TO USE AS A FLOWER POT!" 

"Gotta catch me first, and I just won! Ha!" Nico cheered, voice never raising to the level of Jason's. 

Jason groaned as loud as he could and threw the controller on the bed. 

"I hate you." 

"And I won."

"No, I seriously hate you." 

"And I seriously won. Also, you seriously suck." 

"Take that back!" 

"No!" Nico laughed. 

Jason whirled around and grabbed Nico's shoulders, shaking them and laughing, demanding he take it back. 

Nico jerked backwards and took Jason with him, laughing in that special giddiness that only happens between 3:00 and 4:00 AM on a Friday night. 

Suddenly, Jason was lying on top of Nico, his arms on either side of his head. He grinned. 

"Take it back." 

"Suck less, and I will." 

Jason lowered himself down, until his nose and Nico's were almost touching. He was suddenly glad that his dad made him do all those push-ups on the weekends, because his arms would be really shaky otherwise. This close, he noticed that Nico had a nearly invisible dusting of freckles on his nose. 

"Take it. Back." He said softly, suddenly all too aware of the way Nico's chest rose and fell, of the way his eyes were wide and inviting. 

"No." Nico whispered, and shit Jason was not looking at the shape of his lips now, nope nope nope, not at all. 

Jason's arms were shaking now, the weight of his own body working against him, dragging him down, towards Nico.   
He didn't think he was going to stop it. 

"Jason?" Nico whispered again, still looking up, his brown eyes wide and intoxicating and working a gravity all their own, pulling him lower just as effectively as any ache in his muscles. 

"Jason?" He said again, and the whisper shook him from whatever trance he was stuck in, and Jason realized he'd been staring at Nico's face from dangerously close, for an oddly long amount of time. 

"S-sorry." He muttered, lifting himself up and off Nico, all traces of late night giddiness leaving his system. Nico propped himself up on his elbows, looking at Jason with an odd expression on his face, as if he'd seen something strange for the first time. 

"I'm uh, really tired." Jason stuttered, grabbing a few pillows and laying on the couch, turning away from Nico. He heard the other boy getting ready for bed, but he still didn't turn around.

Maybe his breathing evened out, maybe his body relaxed. Whatever happened, Nico seemed to think that Jason was asleep. Why else would he be talking on the phone at 4:00 AM? 

"Jason?" Nico said, and it took all of Jason's willpower not to turn around. Then he realized he was hearing a one-sided conversation between Nico and Reyna. 

"Nah, he's asleep.....Yeah I know, what a weakling." 

They talked about nursing for a while, and some psychology homework that had Jason's head hurting. He was trying his hardest not to be noticed as awake, and it seemed to be working. 

"I don't know, Reyna. Will's fine."

Now Jason was paying attention. 

"Yes, I swear-No, he hasn't pulled anything on me, why would he?" 

Reyna seemed to be going on a bit of a rant, and Jason smiled. She wouldn't tell Nico he liked him, he knew. That kind of blatant manipulation was beneath her. She would however, make sure to hint as hard as she could. 

"I am not, Reyna! God, you're insufferable." 

"..." 

"I told you, Jason's fine." Nico paused here, and Jason assumed he was looking over to make sure he was still asleep. 

"Well, there was this one odd thing about an hour ago....He kind of...pinned me down? I guess? NO, not like that! Anyway, then he just stared at me for a long time, and it just felt......yeah. Exactly." 

Reyna seemed very enthusiastic about this little spill, and Jason dreaded the next time they saw each other. 

"Really? You think I should? I don't know, I think it's just a misund- stop yelling! Fine, I will on Monday, okay? Yes, I tolerate you as well. Good night, Reyna." He said with a small laugh, hanging up and rolling over. The light was flicked off, and Nico drifted off into sleep, leaving Jason alone with his thoughts. 

Lots of thoughts.


	4. Chapter Four

ason was extremely confused as to how the fanfiction ended up in his pocket in the first place. 

Okay, maybe he needed to back up some. But just for the record, it wasn't his fault. 

Ever since Nico's conversation with Reyna, things had been.......odd. Not in a bad way; just very, very different. 

Jason had been staying with Nico and Hazel ever since his argument with Juno, and that was when he first started noticing all the strangeness going on. 

For one, Hazel couldn't look between him and Nico for more than four seconds without collapsing with laughter. 

Second, someone (he was pretty sure it was Leo) had hidden all of his shirts except one: a white muscle tank. How did he know it was Leo? Because he'd done the exact same thing with Frank a few weeks ago; Jason had to admit watching both Frank and Hazel turn bright red and avoid each other's eyes had been hilarious. But when it happened to him? Not funny. The little rat knew Jason hated that shirt, but it wasn't like he could go shirtless. 

He'd tried to do that, but one look at Nico's face when he walked in (wide eyes, bright red, stunned and a little horrified) had made Hazel double over and Jason scramble for the stupid shirt. 

Then there was the fact that they'd been pushed into a closet together at Reyna's. He suspected the Puerto Rican girl had done it herself, if the grin on her face when she finally released them twenty minutes later was any indication. Spending twenty minutes pressed chest to chest with Nico had been well worth enduring her satisfied looks, though. 

He couldn't walk past Percy and Piper without them making obscene gestures, and Annabeth kept muttering about the likelihood of Leo's hypothesis happening (minus the love triangle, of course) and what that could mean for the experiment. She also complained about Jason's lack of data, but in a teasing way. 

("You aren't withholding the information on purpose to keep him all to yourself, right?")

Jason figured it was all some big prank, since he was 99% sure Nico would never ever introduce him to a mutual friend as "This is Jason. He's bae ." 

(If Reyna's sudden outburst of snorts was anything to go by, he'd been forced.) 

Still, sometimes Nico would reach out and touch his arm unprompted, and Jason would blush. Since Nico wasn't usually a very touchy person, every press of skin felt like a small miracle to Jason. Afterwards, Nico would study his face, and Jason would get the dreadful feeling that Nico was conducting his own experiment. 

They'd been in school, of all places, when one of these touches occurred. Nico had laughed at one of Jason's dumb science jokes (the one about the H202 and the assassination plot) and leaned forward to grasp at his arm. 

His hand had slid down to rest on top of Jason's, and it was like everything got ten times brighter. They'd sat like that for a while, each avoiding the other's eyes, when Nico had been hit in the side of the head with a note. 

Jason had peeked at it, he'd admit. It simply read "ASK HIM!!!!" in what he recognized as Reyna's handwriting. 

"Uh, Jason?" Nico said, and everything in Jason's body seemed to slow. 

Was Nico about to ask him out?

Jason had originally planned to ask him, but it was honestly exciting to wonder about. He just wanted to go on a date with this dork. 

"Yes, Nico?"

"Would you like to...." 

"To...what, exactly?" 

"Go...um...." 

"Yeeeeeees?" 

"Go....gostargazingwithmeafterschool?" 

"Of course I- wait, what?" 

"Do you want to go....stargazing....with me, of course- who else would it be?- after school?" 

"Um...yeah. Sure. Whatever you want."

He tried to look like he wasn't disappointed, but if the look on Nico's face was anything to go by, he wasn't very successful.

That day after school, he'd driven to his house to get ready. 

Except, he realized, he had no idea what to wear. 

So, he did what one usually did. 

He called his friends. 

Leo, Piper, and Percy all showed up together, not bothering to knock before they loudly stomped into his room, demanding food. They found a shirtless Jason sitting on his bed, groaning at the piles of clothes before him. 

"Hello there, Mr. Muscles." Leo cackled, picking up a flannel shirt from the ground and putting it on. 

"I. Need. Help." Jason groaned, flopping back so he was shoulder to shoulder with Percy, who was in the same position. 

"What exactly am I even supposed to wear? What do you wear when you stargaze?"

"Anything that can easily be removed during a heavy makeout session." Piper said, head dangling off the side of Jason's bed, brown hair spilling across his floor. 

"Show up shirtless and video tape his reaction." Leo suggested, burrowing around in Jason's closet and popping out wearing a pair of volleyball spandex over his shorts. Jason didn't even know he owned volleyball spandex. 

"Go casual, bro. Even though this is totally a date, you aren't going to a restaurant, so......" 

"It's not a date!" Jason insisted, joining Leo in the safe sanctuary of his closet. Piper and Percy snorted. 

"Not a date?" Piper giggled, sitting up cross legged next to Percy. 

"Nope." Jason insisted, and they laughed harder. 

"No, of course it's not a date." Piper laughed, elbowing Percy. He sat up. 

"It's just two guys-" He started. 

"Both with homosexual tendencies-" Piper added, and they carried on, finished each other's sentences. 

"Who've been flirting for months-" 

"Going on a romantic picnic-" 

"Under the stars-" 

"On Argo Point-" 

"Where all horny teens go to play-"

"And end up going all the way if you know what I mean-" 

"OOOOH!" 

"OHHHH!" 

They collapsed on his bed laughing, and Jason felt Leo shaking with laughter beside him. 

"You all are jerks." He grumbled, finally finding a shirt to wear. 

"How's this?" He asked, pulling on the short-sleeved purple button down. 

"You look hot." Percy said bluntly, and Piper nodded vigorously. Leo licked his finger, touched Jason's shoulder, and made a sizzling noise before collapsing back into laughter. 

"I'm going to the bathroom. Don't break anything this time."

"'Kay!" 

They ended up breaking his lamp. 

Jason was in the middle of washing his hands when suddenly, something terrible happened. 

The doorbell rang. 

While Jason was in the bathroom. 

Leaving Piper, Percy, and Leo to answer.

He practically flew down the stairs, but it was too late. 

"Sooooo, Nico!" Piper leaned in, supporting herself on his shoulder. "You got any dirty intentions tonight?"

"Excuse me?" 

"Any devious ploys to seduce our poor, awkward Jason?" 

"Everyone's favorite ball of barely repressed homosexual tendencies?" Leo added, grinning. 

"Um...no?" Nico cringed, stepping back. 

"Really?" Percy asked, surprised. "Because I must say, in a totally non-homo way, that Jason looks pretty hot tonight." 

"That totally sounded non-homo, Percy, good job." 

"Thanks, Leo."

"Regardless of how hot he looks," Piper cut in, glaring at them, "we just need to be sure you're treating him right. Because Jason is the human version of a golden retriever, and would never tell us if you did something rude." 

"Pipes, I am 100% sure that Jason will be fine with whatever sexual advances Nico makes tonight." 

Piper glanced at Jason from the corner of her eye, and went still. "Leo-"

"But don't worry. He's not the type to kiss and tell. He's not even really even the type to kiss, if his recent dry spell since Piper dumped him is any indication." 

"LEO!"

"He's behind me, isn't he?" 

Leo spun around, a smile on his face, and laughed nervously.

"Jay! I was giving Nico here directions to Argo Point....no sexual jokes of any kind......no sir, not here!"

"Leo!"

"Okay, so maybe like...ONE sexual joke. Or ten. Who can tell, really?" 

"Leo," Jason laughed, "will you just hand me my jacket so Nico and I can go?" 

Piper and Percy exchanged glances and barely repressed smiles. "Yeah Leo. Hand him his jacket." 

Jason didn't even want to know.

So, he and Nico left. 

It was a bit of an awkward arrangement, since Nico had actually walked to his house, because he didn't have a license yet. (Jason scolded him heavily for that, and he just smiled.) 

So, Jason had to drive. He had no idea where he was going, though, so Nico navigated. 

"Okay, left right here, and...there it is." 

Jason turned onto a dimly lit gravel road, illuminated only by his headlights. 

"You sure this is safe?" 

Nico snorted. "Yes, Jason. I bring Reyna and Hazel up here all the time." 

Jason mock gasped, and Nico laughed. 

"Wow, Nico, and here I was thinking I was special!" 

"You're not. I'm actually a raging sociopath who brings his victims to an isolated clearing to kill them." 

"You make people drive to their own deaths?" 

"Not every raging sociopath has their license, Jason." 

"You've got me there." 

They both laughed, and Jason felt a little lighter. He always reveled in Nico's laugh, because it was so unique. He knew that was extremely sappy, but he didn't care. It made him happier just to hear it. 

"Stop here!" 

Jason braked, waiting for the car to come to a complete stop before shifting into park and shutting off the engine. As they collected the blankets and other supplies, Nico teased him relentlessly for being such a cautious driver. 

"Seriously, I don't think you ever got over 30 on that road." 

"Gravel is tricky, Nico. It can shift and make you spin off the road." 

"Where'd you read that, the drivers permit book?"

Jason didn't answer. 

"Oh my god, you did! You read that whole thing!"

Jason still didn't answer, for lack of a decent comeback. 

Nico laughed, and bumped their shoulders together. 

"You're such a nerd, Jason."

"I was nervous about taking the test!" Jason whined. "I read when I'm nervous." 

"And memorize, apparently." Nico added, shutting the trunk and grabbing the blankets. 

"Yep." Jason agreed, following him to the top of a nearby hill. 

"This is it." Nico announced, dropping the blankets and basket of food. 

"It's a pretty spot." Jason said, looking down. And it was, really. It was high enough to look over the brightly lit city, but Nico revealed that by walking to the other side of a tree it became dark enough to see the stars.

They lay all the blankets down on top of each other, lying on their stomachs and looking up. 

The stars were beautiful, almost taking his breath away. Especially when he turned to look at Nico. The other boy was staring up with a rapt expression on his face, and Jason thought he saw the reflection of the stars in his dark eyes. 

No crush had ever made him this sappy, not even the one on Piper. (That disaster had included him looking at literally everything with bright colors and thinking of her kaleidoscope eyes. Looking back on it was a bit embarrassing.) 

Nico turned to look at Jason, still smiling, and caught him in the act. 

"What are you looking at? The stars are up there." 

Jason followed his finger upwards, feeling his eyes being drawn to a certain group. 

"What's that one?" He asked, pointing it out, and Nico chuckled. 

"Reyna had a feeling you'd ask me about that one. It's not that well-known." 

"Just tell me what it is!" Jason laughed. "Stop stalling." 

"Okay, fine. It's called Aquila, the eagle." 

"What's it's story?" 

"Its story?" 

"Yeah! What's the myth behind it?" 

"Lemme see...oh, I remember. He was the carrier of messages and servant of both Jupiter and Zeus, depending on which version you like best. His most famous myth was when he visited Ganymede to bring him to Olympus after he caught Zeus' attention." 

Jason shivered. "Some Greek mythology can be so creepy." 

"Tell me about it." 

They stared at the stars for a while, until Jason felt a prickling sensation that drew his head to the side. Nico was staring at Jason exactly as Jason had done to him moments ago, and it made Jason blush. 

He stared back, and for the longest time neither of them blinked. Nico's face was slowly getting red enough to match Jason's own, and he had the feeling it was because of the unrestrained look of adoration he knew was on his face. What could he say? There was something about being under these stars, away from everyone, that made hiding his affection seem pointless. He couldn't remember why he ever wanted to in the first place. 

"The stars are still up there." Nico murmured, not breaking away from their gaze. "Don't know why you're looking at me." 

"Maybe I like you better than the stars." Jason said back, smiling. 

"Jason.." Nico said quietly, but he stopped, seeming content to just...stare. 

"Nico." Jason breathed, "Please tell me that I'm not reading this wrong." 

"I don't think you've ever read anything wrong, Jason." 

"Good." He said simply, closing the distance between them and pressing their lips together. 

Kissing Nico was nothing like Jason had expected. 

It was so much better. 

No amount of fantasizing could compare to actually feeling Nico's lips on his, of knowing that they had progressed to this point. 

It wasn't like in his books. There were no fireworks, no instant feelings of rightness, but it was still perfect, because it was Nico. 

And that was good enough for Jason.

Out of nowhere, Nico deepened the kiss, surging forward so he was on top of Jason. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't do much to fight it. 

Nico's knee slipped, pulling at the fabric of Jason's jacket. He didn't remember putting anything in his pocket, but it still made a crinkling noise. 

He remembered Piper's face when she gave him his jacket, sly and mischievous. He'd always feared that look, so with a heavy sigh, regretting every second, he pushed Nico away slowly. 

The other boy opened one eye slowly, as if he feared seeing Jason's expression.

"Sor-" he started, and Jason shook his head. 

"It's not you, not at all. That was-wow. Definitely not a problem. I've wanted to do that for...a while." He said, feeling a dumb smile spreading across his face. 

Nico opened his other eye, looking relieved. "What is it, then?" 

"I'm pretty sure Piper, Leo, and Percy put something in my pocket, and I think we should check it because, knowing them, it could explode." 

Nico winced. "Yeah, probably a good idea." 

Jason coughed, shifting his weight a bit awkwardly. "You're gonna have to, uh...get off me, so I can check." 

"Oh, yeah! Sorry." Nico blushed, removing himself and sitting on the blankets once again. 

Jason slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out........a folded sheet of paper? 

"Open it." Nico urged, and Jason looked up. He pointed to the outer stationary; a pattern of gold and purple twining around the edge that Jason vaguely recognized. 

"That's Reyna's favorite stationary." Jason muttered. "She always uses it for important letters."

"They got Reyna in on this too?" Nico asked incredulously. "Unfold it!"

Jason did, and recognized the alternating scrawls and scribbles of Piper, Leo, and...someone else, someone he didn't recognize.

"What's it say?" Nico asked, crowding in and momentarily distracting Jason. God, it would be so easy to just lean in and-

"Stop staring at me and read!" Nico demanded, and Jason laughed before clearing his throat and turning towards the paper. 

"Jason sucked in a breath, completely overwhelmed by the beautiful, amazingly simple sight that was none other than Nico Di Angelo, laying beneath the stars before him. The emo's eyes were big and wide, like a deer or maybe a puppy, and practically begged Jason to lean in and attack the other boy's lips in a really hot and extremely gay way." He trailed off, staring in confusion at the paper. 

"Is this...fanfiction? Of us?" Nico asked slowly, squinting in confusion. "Made by our friends?" 

"I...I guess? They're all pretty terrible at writing, though." 

"I'm horrified...yet relieved. There could have been much worse stuff in your pocket." 

"True. But you know this means Reyna had a hand in this too, write?" 

"...The balance tips more towards horrified. And did they call me emo?" 

Jason laughed then, turning his head back to the crumpled paper in his hands.   
"Should I keep reading?" 

"Of course."

"Where was I...oh, I found it. Okay. Um... Nico pointed at the sky, focusing his sultry- oh my god, sultry?-look on Jason. 'You know,' he purred, 'Aquila may be Zeus' messenger, but everything you say gets carried straight to my heart.' Oh god, this is so bad, that Aquila thing didn't even make sense-"

He was cut off by Nico's loud, pealing laughter, and he smiled. 

He threw his jacket to the side, after making sure the paper was still folded inside his pocket. Hey, it would be a shame to waste such pretty stationary-

And if he could use it to hear Nico laugh again, well...  
~*~  
His friends hadn't thought he could get any sappier. He was proud to admit that they were wrong.

Okay, so maybe the ability to turn to absolute mush over some guy shouldn't be impressive. Still, anything that made Piper and Leo be quiet for more than twelve seconds was a welcome distraction, even if they were only hushed to make exaggerated gagging noises. At this point, Jason would take what he could get. 

He hadn't gotten to his house until nearly an hour after they'd first kissed, mainly because Nico was a huge fan of hand holding. He doubted that their hands hadn't been interlocked for more than two minutes the entire ride home; another factor that made the going slow, since driving one-handed was dangerous and not recommended by the driver handbook. Nico had teased him relentlessly, but Jason didn't care at all. Getting to hold hands and stare at Nico without abandon were well worth any slight driving rules being broken, in his opinion. 

He'd pulled into Nico's driveway with some reluctance, and they'd sat in his car for about ten minutes before they couldn't delay parting any longer. Jason had insisted on walking Nico to the door, and they loitered under his porch light without speaking until Jason decided to hell with it and pulled him in for another deep kiss. 

"Bye." He'd muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. Nico didn't look much better, with his ruffled hair and fiddling hands. 

"Bye, Jason." Nico echoed, stepping backwards into his house and shutting the door slowly behind him. Jason stared at the oak door for a few seconds, breathless and positively giddy, before he'd gotten back into his car and driven to his house. He didn't look forward to Piper, Leo, and Percy's interrogation, mainly because he couldn't get the smile off his face. Regardless, he practically floated into his house, leaning his weight against the door and taking a deep breath. 

The house was suspiciously silent, save clattering noises from the kitchen. Nearly afraid of what he would find, but still smiling like an idiot, he made his way to the kitchen and saw...

Well, he wasn't quite sure what he saw. 

Piper and Percy were posed on opposite sides of the table, locked in a fierce arm wrestling match, determined scowls resting on both of their faces. On either side of them, about an arm length away, were shallow rimmed plates filled with what look like....hot sauce? Yes, hot sauce, mustard, and some other suspicious substances he didn't want to think about. Leo sat on top of the counter with a corndog in his mouth, apparently the referee, although he couldn't be understood through the wad of food jammed in his mouth. 

"...What are we doing here?" Jason asked in confusion, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

"Double Death arm wrestling." Piper explained, never tearing her eyes from the game. Percy looked up briefly, taking in his dopey smile, and momentarily let his arm go slack in amazement. Piper, ruthless as ever, took this as her opportunity to slam Percy's arm down. Right into the hot sauce mixture. 

"Ewwww!" Percy complained, lifting his arm to examine the sauces coating the skin. "Dang it, Jason! You're distracting!" His whining was drowned out by Piper's cheering as she leaned over to high-five Leo. As they did so, however, his corndog fell from his mouth, and he collapsed on the ground in dramatic anguish. 

Piper ignored Leo's grief and turned back to Percy, eyes glinting mischievously, and Jason shivered. Even before they'd dated, Jason had learned to fear that look. She grabbed the untouched plate and held it before Percy. 

"You lost, Jackson. Now lick." 

"Nooooo!" Percy whined. "It's not fair, Pipes! Jason's dopey face distracted me!" 

"That doesn't change the fact that you lost. Lick the plate." 

"Wait, why does he have to lick the place?" Jason asked. 

"Because it's Double Death!" She said in exasperation, and Leo's head shot up from where he mourned his fallen corndog. 

"Wait, is Percy going to lick the mix I made? The one that's almost as hot as me?" He laughed, mock flexing. 

"If it's as hot as you, Leo, we better put some more peppers in it, or else it'll taste like water." Jason deadpanned from the doorway, and Piper made a huffing noise in the back of her throat. 

"Lick." She demanded. 

"Rematch!" Percy begged. 

"Sure. After you lick the plate." 

"No!" 

"Lick!" 

"No!" 

Leo banged his fists randomly against the cabinets, chanting "Lick! Lick! Lick! Lick! LicklicklicklicklickLICK!" 

Jason and Piper exchanged a single glance, and joined in on the chant. 

"Lick! Lick! Lick!" 

"Lick doesn't even sound like a word anymore." Percy grumbled. 

"Lick!" 

Percy licked it, and they cheered.   
~*~  
"What's this bruise?" Jason asked, pointing to Nico's forehead. The other boy huffed and blushed, flipping his bangs to hide it. 

"It's nothing. Tripped getting ready in the morning. But back to your story; did Percy actually lick the plate?" 

"The whole thing! It was hilarious." Jason laughed, mimicking the face Percy had made. 

"I don't doubt it." Nico said wryly, supporting his head in his hand. Their lunch table was, for once, empty; they'd had some great and hilarious conversation without having to worry about getting teased. Nico's other hand lay by his side, supported by the table, and Jason was struck with the sudden urge to hold it. 

Well, why couldn't he? They'd done it for hours before. 

Feeling absurdly daring, Jason reached out to grab Nico's hand. As soon as his fingers had brushed the skin, however, Nico yanked it back like he'd been burned. 

"W-what are you doing?" He stammered, face turning red. Jason could feel his own responding in kind, if the heat in his cheeks was anything to go by. 

"I'm, uh. Trying to hold your hand?" Jason responded, his nerves making it come out like a question. He just couldn't help it; he didn't know what he'd done wrong. 

"Why do you want to do that?" Nico asked incredulously, and Jason shrugged. 

"Why wouldn't I?" 

"I don't know!" Nico stressed. "But we're in a public place. We're at school! Do you still want to do...that, when people can see us?" 

"Why wouldn't I?" 

"Are you going to keep answering all my questions with that?" 

"Why wouldn't I?" Jason said simply, and Nico smiled. He rested his hand on top of Jason's hesitantly, but with more confidence once he saw that Jason wasn't going anywhere. 

"Nico." Jason said suddenly, feeling like he needed to talk. "There's no reason to be ashamed of this, okay? If couples can make out beside their lockers when they think no one can see, we can definitely hold hands at lunch, alright?" 

"Okay." Nico agreed. "I'm sorry for freaking out. I'm really not ashamed of it, it's just...I wasn't sure if you wanted people to know about us." 

Jason was silent, but the grin spreading over his face told Nico all he needed to know. 

"Don't say it." He warned. "Jason Grace, if you value your life, don't say it." 

...

"Why wouldn't I?" 

Nico pretended to groan, but he didn't separate their hands. 

Jason was going to count that as a win.  
~*~  
Less than two hours after school had ended, Jason got a text from Hazel inviting him over for dinner. As he walking out the door he heard the kitchen door creak open, and the sound of high heels on the aluminum tiles. He stiffened, and closed the door as quietly as he could. There would be hell to be pay if she thought he was avoiding her. 

"Jaaaason!" Juno called in a sing-song voice. "Be a dear and help me with these groceries, okay, sweetie?" 

"Uh, sure. Be right there." He said, schooling his expression into something a little less...irritated. Juno hadn't been home in three days, and they hadn't even discussed the events of their telephone call. She'd pretend like nothing happened, pressure him into a new club with his already filled schedule, and ask him why he didn't have a girlfriend yet. Considering Nico, that last irritation was getting a heck of a lot more complicated to avoid.

"Put the frozen foods up, sweetheart. That's all I need." 

"Yes ma'am." He said simply, moving to put it up as quickly as possible. "After I'm done, is it okay if I head to a friend's house for a few hours to study?" 

"I don't know, Jason." Juno shook his head, expression clearly reading no, you can't. "It's just that I haven't seen you in so long, and-"

"Who's fault is that?" He interrupted, the words flying out before he could stop them. Angrily, he turned to dump all the frozen foods into the freeze. 

"What did you just say to me, Jason Grace?" Juno asked in a low voice, and he shivered. 

"Nothing. Sorry."'

"Well, after that little tantrum, I don't feel much like being in your company." She sniffed. "I can finish the groceries by myself. Leave."

"I said I'm sorry, Juno! I'll help-" he insisted, trying to reach for the bag of rice by her side. 

"No!" She screeched suddenly, slapping his hand away. The bag of rice flew to the ground, making a heavy thunk. Juno made a low sound of irritation. "Now look what you've done. Just go." 

So, he did. 

The drive to Hazel and Nico's house was uneventful, but still helped to drive the incident with Juno from his mind. Singing along to the radio, getting excited to hang out with Nico...both were much better activities than staying at home with his passive aggressive stepmother. 

"I'm here!" He said eagerly, not bothering to knock as he walked in. "Nico? Hazel?" Suddenly, he heard the door behind him slam. He whirled around to see Hazel, leaning against the wall, slowly locking the door. 

"Uh...hi, Hazel?" 

"Jason." She said formerly, face serious and unreadable. "Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome, I guess?" He said awkwardly. "Where's Nico?" 

"Not home yet." 

"Are we making dinner? Like last time?" 

"Nope." 

"Um.."

"So, I hear you and Nico are a thing, now." 

"...yes?" He said slowly, his nerves making it come as a question. 

"What exactly are your intentions with my brother? How long do you plan to stay together? Is this relationship really what you want?" She asked rapidly, crossing her arms and giving him an intimidating glare, despite her tiny size. 

"Um...very gentlemanly ones, as long as possible, and yes. Definitely." He answered her questions firmly, and her hard exterior cracked as she squealed and threw herself into his arms. 

"Sorry for being so hard at first, I just wanted to freak you out. Oh, I'm just so happy!"

"Oh! Well, you certainly freaked me out. But...I'm happy too, Hazel. You have no idea." 

She pulled back with a mischievous grin, staring up at him with a knowing glint in her eyes. Jason blanched a bit; what exactly was it with the girls he hung out that gave them the ability to terrify with a single glance? He needed the formula. 

"Oh, I think I can imagine, believe me. I had to deal with Nico when he came home after your big date, remember?" 

"You dealt with Ni-uh, really? S-so how was that? How was, uh, he?" He laughed awkwardly, sitting down on the couch. Hazel giggled and sat down next to him, turning so they faced each other. Her face clearly said that Nico had done something memorable, but Jason couldn't imagine for the life of him what it was. 

"Well, what did you do after you dropped him off?" She started, and he blushed. 

"Walked into my house...couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. Everything looked...better, I guess? Brighter. Piper and Percy could tell immediately that something had happened, and I...kinda made Percy have to lick a plate of suspicious substances?" 

She blinked. "Okay, I'm ignoring the substance part. I don't want to know. But the rest of it? Your reaction isn't even close to Nico's." 

"What was his reaction?" Jason asked, leaning in a bit in his haste to hear. 

"You know the scene in teen romance movies, after the heroine finally kisses the bad boy?"

"Of course." 

"And she walks back into her house and flips out?" 

"...Yes?" 

"Multiply it by a thousand, and you've got Nico's reaction." 

"No!" He gasped, unable to picture it. His quiet and calm Nico, doing that? It was hard to imagine, but Hazel's from told him he wasn't that far off. 

"What did he do, exactly?" He asked hesitantly, almost afraid to do so. He could already feel his face getting hot. Nico, reacting that way? Because of him? 

"Okay, first of all, Nico would kill me if I told you this. That's exactly why I'm telling you this. I was just sitting on the couch when he comes in, right? Then I notice that he's red in the face and short of breath. Naturally, I'm a little concerned. So, I ask 'Hey, how'd the date go?' and he just..." 

"He what?" Jason asked eagerly. 

"He slid down the door like something out of cheesy movie, completely breathless; puts his head in his hands and everything. When he hits the ground, he just makes this giddy sound and kicks and wiggles in his combat boots for a while, like some sort of...love...seizure...or something. I go 'That nice, huh?' and he just looks at me and absolutely grins. It was so cute." 

Jason felt like burying his head in his hands to hide his red face. "Love seizure?" 

"It was the best I could come up with under pressure!" She laughed, and he smiled. 

"You aren't making this up?" 

"Why would I? Just remember, you can't tell Nico I told you." 

"Can't tell Nico you told him what?" Came a voice from the behind, making them both jump. 

"Nico!" Hazel exclaimed, ringing her hands nervously. "We were just talking about you!" 

Nico dropped his school bags by the patio door, sliding it shut before stalking over and giving his sister an evil stare. "Hazel, what did you tell him?" 

"Nothing!" She insisted, but her grin gave the lie away instantly. 

Nico's eyes widened, and his hand flew to the bruise on his forehead. "You didn't tell him about the-" 

"No! I didn't!" She assured him quickly, raising her hands to pacify her embarrassed brother. "We most certainly did not talk about how you bruised your forehead when we-" 

"Hazel!" Nico cried, and she sucked in a breath. Slowly, they both turned their gazes on one very stunned Jason Grace, sitting across from Hazel on the couch. He smiled a little, shrugging under their stares. 

"I'm going to go order pizza!" Hazel jumped up from the couch and power-walked to the kitchen, leaving them alone in the living room. "You crazy kids have fun!"

"We're both older than you!" Nico yelled, toeing off his shoes and taking her place on the couch, finally turning back to Jason. 

"What...er...exactly did she tell you?" 

Jason brought his hands up to shield his face in his embarrassment. "Um...well, we were just talking about our relationship, and she started asking me about how I reacted after our first date. So I- uh, told her. Yeah. And then she told what you did. Yep." 

Nico's face was slowly getting redder and redder. "What did I do?" 

"You-that is, she told me that you- um, slid down the door and had a...love seizure?" He admitted quickly, peeking through his fingers at Nico. The other boy was still. 

"She told you. That I had. A love...seizure?" 

"Yeah?" Jason squeaked, lowering his hands. Was Nico...shaking?

"HAZEL!" Nico yelled angrily, leaping up from the couch and running into the kitchen. Hazel yelped, and there was the sound of something being dropped. The phone, maybe? Jason could hear their footsteps stomping and running around the kitchen, so he got up to stop the carnage. Nico was chasing a laughing Hazel around the island with a look of absolute determination on his face, arms outstretched to grab whatever he could. 

"Jason!" Hazel exclaimed, hopping on one foot as she scrambled to round a sharp corner. "Help!" 

"Nico, it's okay!" He tried, but nothing happened. Nico finally reach his sister and wrapped her in a headlock, although it was still the gentlest headlock Jason had ever seen. Even when he was annoyed and embarrassed, Nico wouldn't chance hurting Hazel. 

"How would you like it if I told Frank all this stuff, huh? Like that time you dropped your jewelry down the laundry chute and got stuck because you reached too far for it? Remember how I had to pull you out, huh?" Nico asked, smirking slightly as Hazel squawked in embarrassment. 

"Nico-" Jason tried again, but it wasn't heard. 

"Or what about that time you-" 

"Nico!" 

"With the-"

"Nico!" 

"And I had to-" 

"I THOUGHT IT WAS CUTE!" Jason yelled, and the kitchen fell silent. Hazel slipped out of Nico's grip, smiling like a maniac. The Italian boy's blush was back, and in full force as he stuttered out incoherent sounds. 

"I, uh. Thought it was cute. The story." Jason continued, looking down at his shuffling feet. "So you don't have to be mad." 

"C-cute?" Nico stammered, and Hazel covered her mouth to hide her snickers. 

"Well, yeah. And she didn't tell me anything else, and I wouldn't listen if I knew it would make you uncomfortable. Besides, I'm sure Thalia's told you tons of embarrassing stuff about me, too." 

"Not really." Nico said carefully, crossing the kitchen to stand in front of Jason. "We didn't get to talk much before she graduated. But...thanks, you dork." He said affectionately, punching Jason lightly on the shoulder. They walked to the couch together while Hazel continued ordering the pizza, explaining to the confused employee that her "silly brother was just having a fit, is all." 

"Tell me an embarrassing story." Nico demanded, crossing his arms. "It's only fair." 

"Well, when I was six, I got separated from Thalia in the supermarket." 

"So?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I kind of...burrowed into one of the huge shelves and fell asleep, because I thought I was going to have to live there forever. Thalia was frantic; someone found me a few hours later, dead asleep and surrounded by those huge cereal boxes." 

"God, Jason!" Nico laughed, and the awkwardness between them vanished. "You were such an idiot."

Later that night, as they ate pizza and got teased by Hazel, Jason's mind couldn't help but wander to his own family. His stepmother had walked through the back door and his stomach immediately dropped; Nico walked through it and his heart lifted. Their families had the same number of children, the same size house, all the same stacks of money. Why was it so different? Right now, he didn't really care. He just felt...lucky. Lucky that he got to eat pizza and laugh with Hazel, and not have to worry about putting his feet on the coffee table. Lucky that he got to hold Nico's hand in plain sight, and savor the adorable look on his face. 

There would be hell to pay in the next few days, for mouthing off to Juno and leaving the house. He didn't know what the punishment would be, but he was sure it would pale in comparison when he eventually told them about Nico. Still, at the moment, Jason just felt lucky. 

And that was enough.


	5. Chapter Five

Yearbook. 

Jason wasn't on it, but Piper was the editor and relied on him as a distraction to snap candid photos of unsuspecting victims. She'd transformed the previously boring and unpopular club into something interesting and cool, and drove sales through the roof. Jason's personal favorite touch was the fact that, for a small fee, you could bring in a sheet of signatures from your friends and have them laminated into the blank pages. Bam: no more worrying about running out of room or spilling something and losing the signatures. And, since he was Piper's resident "distraction bunny" (as she'd put it) he got first dibs. 

"Piper, can you go ahead and add these signatures to my book?" He asked during a study session, sliding the blank paper over the her. "I forgot to do it last year, so I'm placing my order early." 

She blinked, then smiled. "Sure, Jay. Let me just make sure there's no inappropriate material...you'd be surprised how many people try to use this to engrave sexy memories into high school forever." She laughed, eyes sliding over the page lazily. 

"Oh my gosh, I can totally see Leo trying to make up fake sexual escapades to wow the Stolls." He chuckled, and she covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the giggles. 

"He would totally do that!" She crowed, earning a harsh hiss from the librarian. "That's the reason we have to look over them- oh! Nico even signed this! Oooooooooooooooo-"

"Piper, stop!" He groaned. "I was just passing that around at lunch, of course he signed it. Everyone did, even you."

"Yeah, but look at what he signed!" She squealed. "Jason, you're a huge dork who reads driver manuals in his free time, but you're also my boyfriend. Lucky me, I guess. Love, Nico.

" That's so cute!" She insisted. "He actually noticed that you read the drivers guide whenever it's updated, and he still loves you!" 

"Loves?" Jason exclaimed, waving his hands back and forth. "Oh, no. Nope. Not love. You just sign that on signatures, everyone knows that." 

"Everyone's not your boyfriend." She argued, slipping the page into her bag. "Tell you what, since this is so cute, I'll make sure it's one of the first ones printed. Deal?" 

"Do I have to admit that it's cute?" 

"Yep." 

Jason smiled. "I guess he is pretty cute." 

"Oh, you bet he is. Just doesn't want to admit it."   
~*~  
Jason liked quotes. What could he say? 

Quotes about life, quotes about friendship. He just liked quotes. There was just something about being able to take someone else's words, from their perspective, and fit it to your own life that appealed to him. 

"And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings- Eckhart." He read, looking up at Nico, perched on the bed above him. "Is that a good one?" 

The younger boy shook his head. Jason was leaning against the side of the bed, reading quotes from his laptop as Nico lie on his bed and contemplated whether or not they could be useful. 

"Too cheesy." He decided, letting one hand fall lazily to the side. Jason didn't hesitate to thread his fingers through it; all the pins and needles in the world couldn't deter him from holding Nico's hand. "The opening needs to be...original? Creative? Something like that." 

"Man." Jason sighed in sympathy, shaking his head. "I'm actually kind of glad we have different English teachers. Making you write a short story about some version of yourself from a parallel universe? That's just cruel." 

Nico groaned dramatically. "Tell me about it. At least she's letting me partner with Annabeth; although writing the beginning and end while she writes the middle doesn't seem like that good of a deal." 

"It's actually a great deal." Jason assured him. "You only have to start the story and tie off any loose ends. Annabeth is the one stuck with the messy details." 

"True." Nico nodded absentmindedly. "It's the least I could do after she came up with the whole idea, anyway." 

"What is it, again?" 

"It's us as children of the Greek gods. We don't have to make any background information about powers or parents; just tell about an adventure. It should satisfy enough to get an A." 

"That's actually a really cool idea." Jason agreed. "Who's your guy's parents?"

"We decided on Athena for Annabeth, just for kicks and giggles. I was thinking Hades for Hazel and myself." 

"Athena? Annabeth?" Jason said. "That's oddly fitting."

"Percy is Poseidon, of course. Leo is Hephaestus, and Piper is Aphrodite." 

"What about me?" 

"Zeus, Golden Boy." Nico teased. 

"What? Why?" Jason exclaimed, looking away from his laptop. Nico was fighting a smile, and losing. It only got worse when Jason shut off the laptop and joined him on the bed. 

"You're just so...perfect. Athlete, even though you don't like to be. Smart, strong, and a good leader...you, Jason, have all the qualities of a typical golden child." 

"Oh, yeah? What about you, Mr. All Black?" Jason shot back, reaching out and poking Nico in the ribs. "Lurking in the shadows, pale as a ghost. I suppose Hades is just the perfect match for you, huh?" 

"Yes!" Nico shouted back, shuffling backwards to avoid Jason's fingers. "Leave me alone, or I'll sic an undead army on you!" 

"I'll just fly away." Jason muttered, leaning forward onto his arms and pushing their foreheads together. "And I'm taking you with me." 

"I'll get a dead bird to poke you in the eye." 

"Okay, now that's just mean." Jason laughed, starting to lean back. "That was supposed to be romantic." 

"Really? I couldn't tell." Nico hummed pleasantly as he hooked his hands behind Jason's neck and pulled him back. "I guess you'll just have to try again."

They bantered back and forth like that for some time, Jason admiring how content it was. Trading sarcastic one-liners, holding hands, acting like Nico wasn't better at sarcastic one-liners...It was comfortable. Really, truly comfortable. Which was why it couldn't last, of course.

"Jason, it's nearly 10:30." Hazel reminded him gently, opening the door slowly so she didn't catch them making out (which had happened once before. They all swore to never speak of it again). She was still a pretty strict keeper, ushering him out before curfew every night and calling it revenge for every time Nico had done the same to Frank. It was all for the best, though. He was already walking on thin ice with Juno, ever since his father had arrived until he could make up another excuse to get away. Arriving home late with mussed hair and swollen lips wouldn't help anything.

"I'm going, I'm going." He muttered, turning back on his side to face Nico. "I'm totally about to leave."

"Obviously." Nico smiled. 

"Seriously moving right now." 

"Oh, I believe you." 

"Just give me...thirty more seconds..."

"Not a moment more." 

"So mean to your boyfriend." 

"Boyfriend? All I see is a lazy lump who won't get off my bed. Go home." 

Jason groaned and wobbled to his feet, pressing his lips to Nico's hand one last time before he let it drop. He rubbed his eyes and paused in the doorway, looking back at Nico, who still had that smile on his face. 

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said lowly, still reluctant to leave even with the threat of the ever ticking clock. 

"Not if I see you first." Nico yawned, stretching and smiling at Jason one last time before he disappeared from view. 

As Jason drove away, his phone began to ring. A quick glance at the screen revealed that it was Juno. 

"Ignore." He muttered, switching off the vibration and letting it fall into the seat screen side down. He was still surfing the waves of euphoria that came with Nico's presence; he didn't need his whining step mother to ruin it for him. It wasn't like ignoring one call was a big deal, but Jason couldn't help the small thrill that swept through him at the tiny rebellion. 

Nico's helping me, he thought. Only a few months ago, something as simple as that would have been beyond his ability. He had been held down by invisible burdens, from the faint feeling of nostalgia he got from the memory of a mother he never got to know, to everyone's expectations, to the raw and gaping hole Thalia had torn when she left. Nico had lifted those heavy weights with gentle touches, a smile, a laugh, and set him free. Nico had helped him fly, even though he'd never know it. Still, even though Jason felt lighter than ever before, there was some tiny, nagging ball and chain that refused to detach: his father. Jason's dad hadn't been in the picture much, off flying planes and winning wars since before Jason could speak. He'd been married to Juno for practically centuries, but that didn't stop him from sleeping with every pretty face he saw. As far as Jason knew, he didn't have any legitimate children. He certainly treated them like bastards; always demanding more and never being pleased. Maybe that was why Jason needed Nico so much- he always looked happy for something Jason had done, even if it was just holding open a door. For someone who'd spent his whole life aiming for perfect, Nico was a welcome change. 

Before Jason knew it, he was home. Humming slightly, he unbuckled himself and walked up the long, winding driveway, heels echoing almost ominously in the night. He opened the door, wincing a bit at the creaking sound it made, and hung up his coat. That was when it struck him. 

The house was completely silent. While both his father and Juno were home. 

Jason expected the quiet when he was alone. He usually welcomed it, in fact, especially if he'd had to deal with family for a while. But his father was never quiet; even when he slept, his snores echoed through the house as loud as a scream. Their cars were here, so they must be as well. Why weren't they talking? He entered the kitchen, and was greeted by the sight of his father glaring at the telephone like it had committed murder (or worse, insulted him) and Juno stony-faced against the fridge, gripping the handle so hard her knuckles turned white. Jason's stomach dropped to the floor. 

"What's going on?" He asked slowly, hoping he'd just be waved off to his room. People made his father angry all the time, right? It didn't have anything to do with him. Oh god, what if they found out about Nico? Jason wasn't ready for that backlash yet; he'd barely gotten used to having a curfew. 

"Son. Sit down." His father commanded without even looking in Jason's direction. Juno followed the order as well, and soon they were all seated around the table in a twisted parody of a normal family meal. Jason checked his phone quickly, and cursed inside his mind. Five missed calls, and a single text. How much worse could his luck get? The one time he'd rebelled against his phone, it turned out to be used.

They sat in silence for a while, until Juno took a deep breath and decided to drop the bomb. 

Oh god, here it comes. They were going to tell him he was a disappointment, that it was just a phase, that he was wrong. What would they do next, ground him? Or send him away? 

"You are no longer allowed to talk to your older sister." 

Wait, what?

"What?" He blurted in surprise. 

"You are no longer allowed to talk to your older sister." 

"Yeah, I heard that, but why?" He demanded incredulously. This conversation wasn't going like he planned at all. It was much worse. 

"She was extremely rude to both of us over the phone and we believe that she'll only be a negative influence on you." 

"Thalia's always rude, what makes this any different?" 

"Your sister has chosen to cut off all ties with us and go to South America with your aunt's coven of unladylike thugs!" Juno spat, and his father's face tightened. "She's never going to make a name for herself traipsing around in the dirt in some unindustrialized village! She's never going to be financially secure at this rate; she'll be mooching of your father's good will until the day he dies!" 

"She doesn't need to make a name for herself!" Jason exclaimed, pushing his chair back and rising like the surge of anger in his chest. "She's happy, probably more than she ever was here! Why does it matter how well-known she is? Why can't you just leave her alone?" 

Juno's eye twitched. "Your sister is no longer welcome in this house. Tomorrow I'll be going through her room and giving her things to charity, and I expect you to help." 

"No!" Jason yelled. "You can't touch her stuff! She's happy and confident right now, and I won't let you treat her like this! She's your daughter, Dad, and she always will be. Why aren't you standing up for her?" 

His father didn't answer, and Jason's heart dropped. 

"Dad?" He whispered, feeling so much younger than he was. His father's face tightened almost unnoticeably as he inhaled deeply. 

"Juno is right. That girl is no longer welcome in this house, or this family for that matter." 

"That girl? Her name is Thalia! She's twenty years old and has black hair and blue eyes and she's your daughter, no matter how much you try to deny it! You two are supposed to be the parents, and we're supposed to be the children. We're supposed to be allowed to make mistakes, and you're supposed to understand! You're not supposed to plan our lives for us! As parents, it's your job to help us on the way yourselves!" He panted, trembling and starting to sweat. "You're supposed to be parents." He said lowly. "You're supposed to be our parents." 

"That girl isn't my child. She's the product of some affair." Juno spat, and Jason made a sound from the back of his throat. 

"SO AM I!" He screamed, banging his fist on the table so hard they all jumped. "I'm the product of an affair, I'm illegitimate, I'm not your child! You only act like it because I've never disobeyed you in my life! What are you going to do when I start, huh? Refuse to say my name? Clean out my room? Pretend that I don't exist? You can't pin all these expectations on me just because Thalia managed to get away! Someday, I will too!" 

"Don't talk like that." Juno hissed. "Not to me. Not you." 

"I'm not your puppet!" Jason yelled, gripping the sides of his hair with his hands. He felt so unbelievably frustrated, like everything bad was bubbling up to the service. "You can't make me into what Thalia never was! Leave me out of it!" 

"Listen to your stepmother, Jason!" His father commanded. "Stop being so overly emotional and high strung. Think, for god's sake!" 

"Think?" Jason asked. "Think? What should I think about, Dad? The fact that you don't care about your own kids? That you ignore them and make them feel inadequate and pushed one of them to run away to the other side of the country? Or how about the fact that this is the first time you've been home in three months? When was the last time you came to one of my games? A parent teacher conference? My birthday? If I'm being high strung, it's because you made me this way." 

"Enough!" Juno roared. "You will shut your mouth, young man, or you will no longer be welcome in the house, just like your no-good sister!" 

"Fine!" Jason whispered, taking a ragged step backwards. "I'll leave." He walked from the kitchen like he was in a dream, unable to think beyond shrugging on his coat and grabbing his keys. 

"Jason, wait! All this over your silly sister?" Juno asked in a high-pitched voice, obviously trying to fix what was beyond repair. "Who cares if she's not coming here anymore? When did she ever?" 

"It doesn't matter when she's home! She's my sister, and she always will be! You officially excluded one kid today Juno, but you just lost two." 

He left.

At first, Jason didn't even know where he was going. Reyna's house was too close for him to feel safe, Leo lived with Piper and he had a feeling the two of them combined would just be a disaster, and everyone else was too far away. In the end, it wasn't really a question. 

He pulled into Nico's driveway shakily, vision blurred and hands clutching the wheel much too tight. It was late; they'd probably both be in bed by now. Jason didn't care. He picked up the phone and dialed Nico's number, listening to it ring a few times before it was picked up. 

"Hello?" Nico said groggily, yawning. 

"Nico, I need you to answer your door." 

"Jason, what? What's going on?" Nico asked, and Jason could see his lights flicker on through his window. Briefly, Nico's shadow turned to look at him before disappearing downstairs in a hurry. Jason was standing right outside of his door when he opened it, dressed in black pajamas and an orange robe that Jason found oddly suiting. 

"Jason, what's going o-" Jason threw his arms around Nico and pulled him into a tight hug, muffling the smaller boy's words against his chest. 

"I'm sorry." He said slowly, taking deep breaths to calm himself down, a more ragged one appearing when the other boy slipped two arms around his waist. "I just...really need you right now." 

"Whatever you need, Jason." Nico said softly. "Whatever you need."  
~*~  
"Well look at you, Mr. Domesticated," Piper laughed, clapping him on the back." 

"Don't make fun of my apron," Jason muttered, swatting her on the arm with a spoon as he finished stirring. She squealed and rubbed the juice off, glaring at him. 

"That better be vegetarian," she grumbled. 

Jason sighed. "Pipes, I knew you were coming over. Why wouldn't I cook something vegetarian?" 

"That reminds me! There's a little present for you waiting in the backseat of your car; open it up when you have the chance." 

"How did you get into my car?" Jason asked in confusion. 

"When was the last time you bothered to lock it?"

"Uh...."

"Remind me why I broke up with you?" She laughed, leaving him in the kitchen to go sit with Hazel. 

"It was mutual!" Jason called after her.

He's been staying with Nico and Hazel for the entire weekend, borrowing their old sweatshirts and sweatpants (which barely fit him, of course) for pajamas and washing his one outfit at night. He had nothing but the clothes on his back and his phone, which he used to explain the situation to his friends. 

Nico and Hazel were amazing, of course, waving off his offers to go stay at a hotel until his family calmed down. 

"You're our friend, Jason," Hazel said. "And friends don't let friends sleep in gross hotels." 

"Alone," Nico added, blushing at Jason's raised eyebrows. Piper went "OoooOOOooo" in the background. 

"Not like that, you gross weirdo!" He groaned, slapping a hand over his face. "I'm not offering to go stay in a hotel with you, I'm just saying that-" 

"I get it," Jason laughed, the first laugh since he'd left his house. "You hate me." 

"Yep," Nico agreed nonchalantly, popping a few grapes in his mouth until Jason slapped his hand away. 

"Dinner's not ready yet, Nico! If you want to be able to steal bits of food then you should volunteer to cook." 

"But I can't cook!" Nico complained. "I kill everything I touch." 

"I've seen him send cereal to the fiery pits." Hazel commented from the couch, nonchalantly flipping through a magazine. "It's terrifying." 

"Well come here, then," Jason laughed. "Start  
cooking the stew, then I'll tell you what you're doing wrong."

Nico scowled as Jason corrected his grip on the spoon so it looked less like he wanted to stab someone with it. He looked uncomfortable in front of the stove, stirring slowly with a light grip as if he feared an explosion. Hazel and Piper giggled at his uncomfortable expression, trying and failing to hide it behind their hands. He shot them a glare, but quickly focused on the task in front of him when the stew started to bubble. 

"Jason, it's gonna explode all over and burn me." He complained, and Jason laughed as he grabbed the spoon and stepped back in front of the stove. 

"Wouldn't want that," He chuckled, bending down and pressing his lips to Nico's hand. Nico blushed violently at the action, and stared at Jason mutely, completely still. 

"My god, Nico has an off switch!" Piper crowed. "He really has an off switch!" 

Nico's eyebrows scrunched together in that way they did when he decided to do something. Without warning, he lunged forward and grabbed Jason's neck, pulling him down roughly and kissing him passionately for a few seconds. Jason was so stunned he couldn't do anything but feel absolutely ridiculous and a little bit in love as he stood there in his apron, holding a spatula in the air. When Nico finally pulled away, he couldn't think of anything to say. 

"Piper! Jason has one too!" Hazel cackled, the two girls nearly falling off the couch in their laughter. 

"Hey, Jason! How come you never clammed up when I kissed you like that, huh?" Piper taunted, and Jason flushed. 

"You're a menace, Piper McClean." Jason scowled, turning back to the stove to hide his horribly red face.   
~*~  
It couldn't last, of course. Jason needed more than one outfit, after all, and his backpack. He'd barely lasted through his first Monday without his school stuff, and he could've done without all the pitying glances everyone sent his way. So, it was with a nervous flutter in his stomach that he met Nico in the parking lot after eighth hour, twirling his car keys around his finger. 

"You're sure you want to do this?" Nico asked quietly, buckling himself into the passenger seat. "My dad has loads of money; he wouldn't mind us buying you a few things." 

"Can't buy all my worksheets, though." Jason said wryly, pulling out of the lot and starting to drive cautiously down the street. "Besides, I need to do this eventually. Hopefully they'll have cooled down enough to let me in after a few days." 

"If they don't, we can always-" 

"Nico," Jason interrupted, "I'm fine. I want to do this." 

"Okay, Jason," Nico agreed. "Then let's do it."

The drive to his house was silent, and if Nico noticed that Jason gripped his hand a bit too tightly, he didn't say anything. When Jason pulled into his driveway, he released a shaky breath. 

"Are they even home?" Nico asked encouragingly. 

"I don't think so," Jason answered. "but that doesn't mean they won't notice."   
~*~  
"Jason!" Nico called from across the bedroom, "Do you want to bring this to my place?" 

Jason shook his head. They went on like that for some time, with Jason picking up items off his dresser and desk and Nico going through the closet. Suddenly, Jason heard the backdoor of the kitchen opening. It wasn't Juno or his dad; they'd have driven up. It must be the maid. In a panic, Jason swept and emptied all the contents of his desk into a single box. 

"We'll just have to wait up here until she leaves." 

"Doesn't she clean your room?" 

"If the door's locked, she knows not to come in. Don't worry."

They sat in silence until the maid left, sitting beside each other against a wall. When the door finally closed, they gathered up all the things they needed and sprinted out to the car

They'd brought several cardboard boxes, since Jason wasn't sure how long he'd be staying with Nico. His backpack, laptop, and other school things went in the trunk. The boxes filled with clothes and other necessities stayed in the backseat.

"Thank god we didn't meet my dad," Jason sighed in relief as they left. "It would have been a lot harder if we did." 

"I don't know, Jason," Nico interjected. "You're going to need to face him sooner or later. Running away from your problems doesn't change anything." 

"I know, I know," Jason huffed. "Geez, I finally get a cool boyfriend, and he just has to be focused on solving my family problems."

Nico laughed, and reached over for Jason's hand with the slightest hint of pink on his face. 

"It'll happen eventually, Jason." He warned. "But we don't have to deal with it right now, I suppose." 

"Good," Jason sighed, "Because all I want to do is go home and play Uno with you and Hazel." 

"Probably not," Nico noted wryly. "My sister is an Uno beast. She beats me every time." 

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to team up." 

"Hmm...I think my chances will be better on my own." 

"Jerk."   
~*~  
That night, it was proved that Hazel was, indeed, an Uno beast. Jason didn't know where she was getting these rare, practically diamond cards, but nearly every other one she put down affected him negatively in some way. Her luck couldn't be that good, right? 

"Wild card!" She said gleefully, and Nico cried out in indignation. 

"Again?" He whined. "Hazel, are you sure you aren't cheating?"

She gasped, as if scandalized, and Jason smiled at their antics. 

"I'll go get some more snacks," Nico offered, rising suddenly and not realizing that he hadn't scooted his chair back far enough. He toppled over the back of the chair, landed with a thump and a groan on the floor. 

"Nico!" Hazel called, struggling to keep the laughter out of her voice. "Are you all right? God, this is exactly like-" 

"No, Hazel. We promised not to talk about that." Nico cut her off, blushing, but he allowed Jason to help him up. 

"Someday you'll have to tell me what happened," Jason whispered in his ear. "Even if it's embarrassing. I won't laugh, I promise."

"I just acted like a clumsy idiot in front of you. Why would I want to make this night even more embarrassing?" 

"But you do clumsy stuff all the time!" Jason protested. "That's hardly new!" 

"I do not!" Nico complained. "I don't. Do I?" 

"You do," Jason laughed, sitting him down at a stool in the kitchen and rummaging around in the fridge for snacks. "On the outside you're this hard, brooding ball of angst, but once someone gets to know you they see you slamming into doors accidentally and tripping down the stairs. Falling out of your chair, slipping off the bench at the park, those kind of things. Don't worry, though, I think it's adorable." 

Nico didn't say anything, and when Jason turned around he saw that the other boy's face was buried in the island, the tips of his ears bright red. 

"You just killed me," Nico said in a muffled voice. "I died of embarrassment. Leave my corpse alone to rot." 

It was hard to imagine Jason ever being afraid of this dork. His dork. His cute, dorky boyfriend. 

"And stop looking at me like that. I'm not adorable," Nico insisted, looking up and making a face at Jason. 

"Sure, Nico," Jason smiled, setting the snacks on the counter and leaning over to take Nico's face between his hands. 

"Really. 'M not cute," Nico repeated, and it came out sounded funny as Jason squeezed his cheeks and made his lips puff out. "Shadow in the night. Fear me." 

"Oh, I fear you," Jason assured him, leaning in and pecking Nico on the lips. He wasn't expecting Nico to suddenly grab the back of his head and turn the chaste, innocent kiss into something a lot more intense, but there was no way Jason was complaining. 

"If you two are kissing in here-" Hazel rounded the corner and was forced to see her brother and friend kissing over her kitchen island, and blinked. 

"I'm just gonna...go upstairs." She whirled around and left, abandoning the game of Uno (she was already going to win, anyway). 

"You do that," Nico managed to gasp out, seemingly unaware that Hazel had been gone for quite some time.

"Mm...we should go upstairs too," Jason panted. "The corner of the...counter is d-digging into my stomach." The way Nico was kissing him made it hard to concentrate, but he could definitely feel the corner of the island Nico was tugging him over pressing down on his abs in an uncomfortable way. 

"Yeah," Nico sighed into his mouth, and Jason honestly didn't think the other boy had been listening to a word he was saying. 

"Come on," Jason laughed, tugging Nico up from the stool and to the stairs. 

"Your room or mine?" Nico asked innocently, trailing a few steps behind Jason on the stairs, and Jason could feel himself flushing. Nico didn't mean to inflect it that way, of course, but Jason was really starting to regret not just putting up with the pain downstairs. 

"Yours..." Jason had an idea occur to him suddenly. He pushed open the door and sat on Nico's bed, pulling the other boy onto his lap, and let the kiss continue for a few seconds before he pulled away. Nico followed the movement for a second, eyes still closed and a pleased expression on his face. Jason had to admire his willpower for a moment; that look was enough to make him weak in the knees, which was quite a feat considering he was sitting down. 

"Wait," Jason said firmly, and Nico made a whining noise. 

"Why?" He said breathily, before straightening and looking a little embarrassed that a noise like that had come out of his mouth. He coughed and obviously lowered his voice as he tried again, "Why?" 

"We can keep kissing-" Nico seemed to take that as an invitation, leaning forward eagerly, and Jason had to put a finger to his lips and push him away gently. 

"We can keep kissing," he continued, "if you tell me how you got that bruise on your forehead." 

Nico groaned. "Jason, please no, it's embarrassing and Hazel already teases me about it enough as it is."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Jason felt a little bad for trying to bribe Nico into telling him, and tried to make up for it by kissing him soundly on the mouth once more. "I just want to be the person you can tell everything too, you know?" 

The black haired boy sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you." 

"Really?" Jason exclaimed ecstatically. "Thank you! You don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable, though. It's not that big a deal." 

"Jason," Nico interrupted, "I'm telling you. Sit back and listen before I change my mind." 

"Yeah, okay," Jason said happily as Nico pulled himself off his lap and leaned back on his hands. 

"We were home alone, obviously," He started. "It was a Saturday morning, and those have kind of always been our special days. We were both in our favorite pajamas, making pancakes and listening to the radio. You with me so far?" 

Jason nodded, unable to keep a smile off his face as he pictured the scene. He happened to know that Nico's favorite pajamas were black and decorated with rubies and diamonds (a gift from Hazel) and that Hazel's favorite pajamas were gold and adorned with skulls (a gift from Nico). 

He also knew that on Saturday mornings, especially pancake mornings, their ritual was for Hazel to sit on the counter and try to wake herself up before Nico finished the pancakes. If he caught her yawning, she lost. Jason didn't quite know what it was exactly she was losing, but they both assured him it was the principle of the thing. The scene just seemed so cheerily domestic and happy, not to mention-

"Adorable, I know." Nico's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Anyway, I'm just trying to set the pancakes on plates when one of Hazel's favorite songs comes on. She shrieks, instantly awake now, and grabs my arm and cranks up the radio and just starts dancing and singing and well...she's my sister, okay? I think everything she does is great. So I ah, you know. Joined in. I wasn't that into it." 

"Yes you were!" Hazel called, and Jason jumped. He'd forgotten that she lived only a few doors down from Nico. 

She poked her head into the door and smiled softly. "Nico, if y'all are done downstairs, I'm just gonna sit at the kitchen table and do some homework, okay? Don't stay up too late." 

"Okay. Love you, Haze," Nico said gently, and she smiled before disappearing quietly down the hall. 

"What song were you two dancing to?" Jason asked, and Nico ducked his head. 

"It's a total cliché," he admitted. 

"Come on, Nico, you gotta let me imagine this scene with all the details!" 

"Fine," Nico grumbled. "It was 'We Built This City' by Starship. Shut up."

"The one that goes like-" 

"You know how it goes, Jason," Nico sighed. 

Jason pulled out his phone and typed in a search carefully, pretending he was just really into a text message. 

"You can keep going," he said as he pressed play. 

Nico opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the first strains of a song coming from Jason's phone. 

We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll. Built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll!

"Jason," he said through clenched lips as the drumbeat started, "what are you doing?" 

"Just adding authenticity," Jason said sweetly, smiling, and Nico punched his shoulder. 

"Anyway," he continued, trying to drown out the music coming from Jason's phone, "we just went at it, okay? It was early in the morning, we were barely awake, and it's a good song. Don't judge. We were dancing everywhere; the kitchen, the stairs, that hallway that leads to the stairs -the one that overlooks the living room, you know- and it was fun. Shut up."

"I didn't say anything." Jason couldn't stop smiling. "Nothing at all." 

"But you want to say something, I can see it in those stupid eyes." 

"What I want is for you to tell me the rest of the story!" Jason complained, and Nico sighed and looked down, playing with his hair. 

"We have a lot of tile," he started, "and my feet get cold at night." 

"So?" 

"So I wear socks." 

"Yeah? I knew that?" 

"And Hazel and I were...sliding across the hallway and tossing our hair around," he muttered. "We saw it in a movie, okay? It looked cool. And I slid to the side but I forgot I was wearing socks, so I slipped and just...hitmy headonthebanisterandfelldownthestairs," he choked out quickly, crossing his arms and refusing to look at Jason.

"Come again?" Jason asked, unable to workout the mumbled phrase. 

"I sort of...hit my head on the banister. And fell. Down the stairs. Shut up. Can we kiss now?" 

Nico didn't even wait for an answer before he dove forward and tugged Jason down, pressing their lips together and moving feverishly. 

"I think-" Jason gasped out, knotting his hands in Nico's hair and pressing light kisses across his cheeks and nose, "that you doing that is super cute." 

"Shut up," Nico panted, deepening the kiss and rising to his knees between Jason's crossed legs, so he was above by a few inches. 

"No, seriously it's-" Jason dabbed a short kiss on Nico's nose, moving down his jawline and back up the other side, "really cute. You're really cute. And hot. But cute, mostly." 

"I can work with that." Jason could feel Nico smiling against his mouth, and he couldn't help but smile in return. 

They went on that way for...well, to be honest, Jason couldn't tell you how long. All he could tell you was that by the time Nico finally pulled away and tucked himself into Jason's side, it was past midnight. He thought. Maybe? They'd left all the electronics downstairs in their haste, so a definite answer was out of the question. 

Nico's lips were red and slightly swollen, his hair artfully ruffled, and he had saliva on his chin and around the sides of his mouth that he hastily tried to wipe away but couldn't hide. 

Jason thought that he had never looked more perfect. This was what he wanted, for the rest of his life. Just Nico beside him, being Nico. That sounded pretty good. 

"We really should unpack those boxes of yours," Nico muttered, referring to the various objects that they had shoved into containers in their haste to leave Jason's house. The topmost box, he knew, contained whatever had been in his desk. He honestly didn't know what the rest had in store, but he was okay with surprises. As long as they didn't knock him out. 

"We can do it right now." Jason sat up and stretched, forcing Nico to come with him. "I've got all this energy and nothing to do with it." 

"Sure," Nico agreed. "But have you seen my phone? I don't see it anywhere." 

"We left it downstairs," Jason reminded him. "I'll go get it. You can start unpacking, if you want." 

"Are you sure?" Nico teased, rising and grabbing the container on the top. "No secret items you don't want me to see?" 

"Not in those boxes," Jason laughed. "Seriously, though, I don't care if you're unpacking my stuff; I've got nothing to hide from you. Telling each other everything, remember?" 

"Got it." Nico smiled at him, hugging him quickly and lifting the lid on the box. Jason saw crumpled homework papers and old pens from months ago, before he'd even gotten to know Nico. He felt a little bad about the mess, since Jason hadn't cleaned his desk off since that fevered 'study session' to learn about Nico's likes and dislikes. He might still have that stuff, somewhere, but he was pretty sure Juno threw it out. She was always going into his room and taking anything she dubbed suspicious. It was sad, really, because it could be interesting to go over the old data and see how it compared. 

Well, at least I don't have to worry about that anymore. He thought, making his way down the stairs quietly to avoid startling Hazel, who sat with her back to him and headphones on as she worked. 

He tiptoed to the table and grabbed their phones, turning his on to find out the time. 

What he found were six missed calls from his father, and an ever increasing number of texts from Juno, demanding to know why he'd cleaned out his room. Jason stood there for a minute and thumbed through the messages, scoffing at the way she tried to scare him. Had that ever really worked? God, he was lucky he got out when he did. Thanks to Nico and Hazel, of course. Jason flipped the phone shut and felt a peculiar lightness throughout his body. It was nice, for once, to not get nervous because of his parents. 

Speaking of Nico, he really should get back upstairs. Jason had loitered longer than expected, looking at those messages. Now, though, he had to help his boyfriend unpack.

"Hey Nico," he said happily, bounding in. "You'll never guess what I just did- wait, what are you doing?" 

Nico's back was facing Jason as he bent over the box in front of him, and if he squinted Jason could see that it hadn't been unpacked at all. The contents were just in a different order than when he'd left, a whole new manner of disarray that just made Jason uneasy. Looking at Nico's clenched fists, he could see a regular piece of notebook paper crumpled in between his fingers. The entire scene radiated an angry energy, and if Jason wasn't so invested in Nico, he would have closed the door long ago. 

"Jason," Nico said lowly, and he could feel goosebumps rising on his arms. Jason hadn't ever heard his voice like that, and he hoped he never would again. "Do you remember what you said, just before you went downstairs?" 

"Um...yeah?" Jason said nervously. "My memory hasn't been erased in the last five minutes, haha." 

"Telling each other everything," Nico parroted, turning his head to the side just slightly. Jason could see his pinched and angry profile, and couldn't help but shiver. Honestly, when Nico wanted to, he struck fear into the hearts of anyone who looked at him. 

"Y-yeah." Jason couldn't figure out what was going on. He really, for the life of him, couldn't figure it out. Where was the bright, happy Nico he'd seen not five minutes ago? What changed?

"If you wanted us to tell each other everything," Nico repeated, finally facing Jason, "then why didn't you tell me about this?" 

He thrust hand out, the one with the paper in it, and Jason watched with wide eyes as it slowly smoothed out, the dark marks of a pencil showing a title written in Jason's own handwriting. 

'The Nico di Angelo Experiment.'

Shit. 

"Nico, I can explain-" 

"Let's just read this, shall we?" Nico cut in, holding the paper up and clearing his throat. "Subject is most comfortable around his sister, making Hazel the controlled variable. Jason will approach Nico one day and start a conversation based on the following topics: Fall Out Boy, Marvel, Harry Potter, and ice skating. Jason must investigate any possible triggers that distance Nico from others, resulting in his current isolation." 

He looked up and glared at Jason, eyes full of fury, but also a little bit of hurt, too. 

"Those first times we talked...they were planned, weren't they? You didn't approach me because you wanted to, it was just some cruel science project!" 

"Nico, no, it may have started out that way, but-"

"Just-just shut up, Jason! Who were you to say I was isolated? I wasn't! I had Hazel and Reyna and Will, but I just didn't want to hang out with you and your friends! You know, I used to wonder if I was just being rude. Now, though, I know I was right. You just treat people like things in a textbook!" 

"Nico, we didn't mean to be rude, it was to help you make friends, and it just got out of hand!" Jason didn't know what to do. He felt like everything was spinning out of control around him, leaving him nothing to cling to in the storm. 

"Haven't you been listening? I had friends! Your group is just so pretentious and egotistical that you couldn't imagine why I didn't want to hang out with you! There must have been something wrong with me, but not you, right? Because you all are just so wonderful and perfect, how could I resist? What was wrong in my traumatic past to make me turn away, huh? Why does there always have to be something wrong with me?" Nico yelled, throwing the paper to the ground and stomping it under his heel. 

"There's nothing wrong with you, Nico! Nobody thought that, we never thought that."

"How did it go down, Jason? Did someone bring up that 'sad little goth boy' when you were all hanging around in your basement? Did you just decide to be a freaking martyr and hang out with the poor little recluse? Did it ever occur to you that I was happy by myself?" 

"I didn't do it because of pressure, Nico!" Jason yelled back. "I wanted to talk to you, I've always wanted to talk to you, but I was just nervous! So when they brought up the experiment, I was happy! You weren't a charity case, Nico, and you never were. Please, just calm down." 

"Calm down?" Nico cried. "Are you kidding me? Jason, I used to lay awake at night wondering what a golden boy like you could ever want with someone like me. Well, now I know, don't I? Data! It doesn't matter if I was a charity case, Jason, what matters is that you never would have approached me if it wasn't for this!" With that, Nico twisted the paper under his foot until it tore in two. 

Jason didn't know what to say. It was sort of true, wasn't it? Without the push of the experiment and his energetic friends, Jason probably never would have talked to Nico. He would have watched, and waited, pushing and prodding like a true scientist out of simple curiosity. It was a sad thought. 

"Was this all I was to you? An experiment?" Nico asked, the hurt look on his face breaking Jason's heart. "Don't lie to me, Jason. You didn't like me when this started, I know it." 

"I liked you well enough-" 

"Not like that, Jason. You didn't want to date me until later, after you'd satisfied yourself with this pointless project!" 

"We just wanted to help you," Jason tried to cut in, but Nico wasn't having it. 

"Did you- oh god, did you go back to your friends and tell them all about how our 'relationship' was developing? Did they give you advice? I started to like you because you seemed like a nice, genuine, down to earth person, only to find out that all you are is fake! You're a fake, Jason Grace, and I just can't look at you right now." 

Jason tried to step forward and touch Nico's face, anything to make him understand, but his hand was slapped away. 

"My feelings aren't fake," Jason whispered, clutching the slapped hand to his chest. "Nico, you know I love science. Why is it so bad that I used it to get to know you?" 

"I used to love the fact that you loved science. God help me, I-I thought it was cute, how you wanted to turn everything into a project. Until I became the project, I guess. Just...just leave. Please."

"Nico..." Jason trailed off, looking at this boy, this beautiful boy in front of him that he wanted but couldn't touch. All the anger had drained out of Nico, leaving only the feelings of heartbreak and betrayal as he held back tears. Nico was hurting, because of Jason, and it was almost too much to bear. 

"You can come back once I've cooled down; I don't want your dad to yell at you or anything. When you do, though, just...don't talk to me. Please. Sleep somewhere else." 

Even now, when he was mad at Jason, he was still kind. He didn't turn Jason away, even though it clearly hurt to see him. Nico was just that kind of person. 

Jason didn't want to hurt him anymore. 

He turned on his heel and fled, blinking back tears of his own. 

When he managed to make it down the stairs without tripping, he found Hazel standing at the door with a confused look on her face, obviously having heard the shouting. 

"What's going on?" She asked. "What happened?" 

"The experiment, Hazel. He found that old paper from the experiment."

She gasped and put a hand up to her mouth. "But that was months ago! Surely we could-"

"It's my fault, Hazel," he said sadly. "He needed to know, anyway. I'll just go." 

"Jason-" she started to say, but he was already out the door and getting into his car. 

It didn't occur to him until he was parked in a clearing, exhausted, that he hadn't opened up Piper's present. 

He unwrapped it slowly, hoping for something trivial to chase all the bad feelings out of his mind. 

It was the yearbook. 

He looked at the page that Nico signed sadly, pressing a hand over his mouth and telling himself he wouldn't cry. 

Jason had ruined everything. A single tear made its way down his face and dropped onto the page, right above the 'I' in Nico's name. 

It was a good thing the pages were laminated, he guessed.


	6. Chapter 6

Come up to meet you  
Tell you I'm sorry  
You don't know how lovely you are  
I had to find you  
Tell you I need you  
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets  
And ask me your questions  
Oh let's go back to the start  
Running in circles; coming up tails  
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy  
It's such a shame for us to part  
Nobody said it was easy  
No one ever said it would be this hard  
Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures  
Pulling your puzzles apart  
Questions of science; science and progress  
Do not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me  
Come back and haunt me  
Oh and I rush to the start  
Running in circles, chasing our tails  
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy  
Oh it's such a shame for us to part  
Nobody said it was easy  
No one ever said it would be so hard  
I'm going back to the start  
\- "The Scientist" by Coldplay

Jason, needless to say, didn't get a lot of sleep that night. He had driven around aimlessly for a few hours after finding the yearbook, until he ran out of gas on the side of the road and realized that he had no idea where he was going. 

He had his phone, but it had died somewhere around the third hour of angsty wanderlust. 

Jason ended up leaving his car behind and walking angrily down the road, hands in his pockets and fury at the world in his heart. He wasn't that far from Piper's house, so he took off down the dark road and prayed he didn't get mugged. 

He didn't know what he would do if someone tried to mug him. Jason had taken kickboxing classes with Reyna for three years; he wasn't sure he'd be able to hold back now, considering how angry he was. 

Angry at himself, mostly. Angry at his friends, as well. 

Angry at Nico? Not really. Jason didn't have it in him to be angry at Nico right now. 

That stupid list. Why had he kept it? Even after it was obvious that Jason didn't need it anymore, he had kept it around. He could blame it on his natural messy habits and just leave it, but the truth was that Jason just kind of liked having it there. It reminded him of how far they'd come, all because of something his friends had said. 

Jason didn't look at that list and see an experiment. He looked at it and saw Nico, and nothing that reminded him of Nico would ever seem bad. 

As he stomped to Piper's house, he tried not to let himself think about what was happening at Nico's house. He knew that his boyfriend -if they were even still together- would never yell at Hazel in a million years, but surely there would be an argument. Come to think of it, this could lead to Nico being angry at everyone! Will and Reyna had even been in on it. Who would Nico turn to? 

Enough thinking about Nico for now. Jason wanted to hold onto his anger; without it, he wasn't sure he would make it to Piper's without collapsing. 

He did, though, and managed to actually hit her window with a pebble on the first try (he knew football would come in handy, one day). The second he'd explained the situation Piper had ushered him inside and wrapped him in about three of her expensive comforters, and let him rest his head in her lap while she tried to something particularly mind numbing to watch. 

Only then did Jason feel the anger resolving, and only then did he let himself feel properly sad. 

"Why did you let me fall in love with him, Pipes?" He asked sadly, feeling her fingers carding through his hair. Even though they weren't dating anymore, she was still one of his closest friends. Just listening to her voice made the situation feel better, somehow. "Things were so much easier when I only knew his name." 

"They may have been easier," she said frankly, "but they definitely felt more empty." 

"Well, the emptiness is long gone," Jason huffed, "but now I'm feeling all sorts of new things I'm not a fan of." 

"That's what a relationship is supposed to make you do, Jason. It's supposed to make you feel."   
~*~  
She helped him get his car fixed the next morning and sent him on his way, with a week's worth of food from her never-ending pantry in the backseat and twenty dollars in his pocket. 

"I would give you more," she'd said as she handed him the bill, "but knowing you, it would all accidentally end up at a charity." 

"How do you know I won't donate this?" Jason had laughed. 

She smiled. "Because you'd feel bad about only giving twenty dollars." 

God, she knew him too well. 

Jason stopped at a McDonald's and bought himself lunch, eating sadly because Nico loved McDonald's, oddly enough. He realized that he had enough to buy him a movie ticket, and headed downtown. 

That was how he spent the first day after the fight: eating fast food and watching movies. 

He couldn't stop thinking about Nico the entire time. 

Driving in his car, Jason realized he had no idea where to go. Percy lived with his mom in a cramped apartment, with Annabeth usually spending the night because of the arguments with her family. Leo was in a small apartment with his aunt, but they despised each other and as a result he often stayed with Piper. Jason didn't want to intrude on their bonding time, or whatever. Then there was the fact that Leo would ask him questions, and Jason didn't think he could take those right now. Frank lived with his strict grandma, and they weren't really good enough friends to justify coming over. Hazel and Nico were out of the question, of course. 

That left Reyna, although Jason wasn't particularly looking forward to it. She had a habit of saying what needed to be said, even if the listener didn't want to hear it. She'd set him straight, and give him advice, but Jason wasn't so sure he was ready to listen. What if she time him to just let Nico break up? (She wouldn't, but some small paranoid part of Jason just wanted to sleep in his car and never get up.)

He also had school tomorrow. And all his clothes were at Nico's. 

He probably had a few pairs of shorts at Reyna's, and he could just take one of her oversized sweatshirts. He'd look like a hobo, but it could work. 

He dug out his phone, newly charged thanks to Piper, and dialed her number. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Reyna, would it be all right if I crashed at your place for a few nights? Nico and I had a fight, and my dad is still angry with me, so-"

"I know what happened, Jason. Nico told me." 

"H-he did?" Jason stuttered. "What did he say?" 

There was silence, and what sounded distinctly like whispering in the background. Jason felt something in his stomach drop. 

"Reyna, is Nico over there right now?" 

"Yeah, he is," she answered awkwardly. "Are you sure you can't stay somewhere else?"

"Everybody else has their own stuff going on," he admitted. "I guess I could go back to my house, but-"

"Jason, you can't go back to your dad's house." Reyna sounded determined and worried, which wasn't a very good combination. "That's just asking for trouble. Why don't you just go back to Nico's?" 

"Are you kidding me? He doesn't want to see me right now; he hates me!" 

"He doesn't hate you. He's just angry." 

"Angry because he hates me! I can't put that burden on him, Reyna, not right now." 

"Come over in a couple hours," she told him. "You can stay here for a few days until you get things sorted out." 

"Thank you, Reyna, thank you so much!" 

"Stop thanking me, Jason. See you soon."

He sighed, looking at the remaining change in his hands. 

Maybe he'd go back to the movies.   
~*~  
Jason hadn't been over to Reyna's since that time with Nico and Will. He felt a little bad about it, honestly; when they were kids he'd gone over pretty much everyday. Now that they were both older and busier, though, things were different. He still knew his way around, though. He walked up to stairs to Reyna's room, creeping past her sleeping dogs, and opened her door slowly.

"Yo, Jason," she said casually, sitting on her bed in pajamas, hair unbraided. It was an amazingly casual look for Reyna, but it wasn't exactly bad. Her long hair was glossy and ended mid back, and Jason had to admit that this was the most relaxed he'd seen her in a while. If Nico had just left, it must have been from him. He smiled involuntarily; even if Nico didn't want to date him anymore, Reyna wouldn't let that bother her. She'd hang out with whoever made her feel comfortable, no matter what feathers she ruffled. 

"Hey, Rey." He shuffled into the room, shrugging his jacket off onto the floor and sitting on the bed. "How's it going?" 

"There was a pretty intense sleepover with Nico after you left. Hazel joined in this morning; it was pretty fun." 

"I'm glad." Jason shifted around nervously, wondering if she was trying to hint anything to him. "What did you do at the sleepover?" 

She shrugged, tucking some hair behind her ear. "We ate a lot of ice cream. Nico painted our nails. Had a Girl Code marathon. The usual." 

"I was gonna ask about that," Jason laughed. "You don't usually paint your nails, especially not...black." 

She lifted up one finger and examined the polish on her nail critically. 

"He's damn good at it, though. Look, my thumb even has a purple 'R' on it."

"Looks good," Jason said awkwardly. "Er...was I mentioned, during the sleepover?" 

"Oh, tons," she answered easily, lowering her hand and looking him in the eye. "He was pretty broken up when he got here, Jay." 

"I know, and I feel so bad! I know I should have told him about the experiment, but things were just going so well and I just forgot and-" 

He was interrupted by her husky laugh, and he grimaced. 

"Yeah, I told Nico you'd be like this; all torn up and guilty. You're too predictable, Jason." 

"Reyna, you're one of the closest people in my life. Will you please tell me how to fix this?" He begged, and she shrugged. 

"I can't help you make up a plan to fix everything, Jason," she said. "That wouldn't be any better than making you a plan to meet Nico in the first place." 

Jason deflated. "I know." 

"I can, however, help you get over this guilty slum with the help of a surprise guest." She took out her phone and texted out a message while Jason sat back, confused.

"S-surprise?" He asked in confusion. "Reyna, I don't need cheering up, I need advice!"

"Believe me, Jason, this person's first priority isn't going to be cheering you up. It's going to be setting you straight." 

"Relatively speaking, of course, you big ol' gaywad," came a voice from the doorway. "Like sister like brother, huh?"

"Thalia?"

He was right. His sister, of all people, stood in front of him with a smile on her face. The blue streaks in her hair had gotten brighter, and she had more ear piercings (and one on her nose, too, he'd have to ask about that) but it was undoubtably Thalia, with her combat boots and electric grin. He hadn't seen her in years, what could she possibly be-

"Doing here?" She finished his sentence. "Helping you, of course. I was in town for a few days, just to say hello to Daddy dearest and get the rest of my stuff. I got a text from Rey-Rey, and had to drop in to see how my little bro was doin'." 

"Rey-Rey?" Jason was confused. The last time someone had attempted to give Reyna a cutesy nickname, she'd broken their nose. But all she did this time was blush and make a noise. 

"Thalia," she said, "you promised." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Help Jason, flirt with you later. Make out with you a lot later." 

"Uh...you're joking, right?" Jason looked at both of them, and couldn't quite seem to see where the joke started. 

Reyna and Thalia exchanged a glance above his head. 

"Um...sure we're joking," Thalia laughed, before muttering, "Until later, at least." 

"Anyway," Reyna interrupted loudly, "I texted Thalia to come help you out of this funk, and set you on the right path."

"So, let's get to it," his sister said, bouncing beside him on the bed. "What happened, exactly?" 

Jason told her the entire story from the beginning, with Reyna filling in any spots that he had missed.

"I always knew being a nerd would get you into trouble," she teased, punching him on the shoulder. "Seriously, though. What's the problem?" 

"What do you mean? He hates me! I was a terrible boyfriend, and the way he reacted was exactly what I deserved. How can he be expected to trust me if I started our relationship out under false pretenses?" 

"Slow down, bro. From what Reyna told me, Nico's just hurt. He wanted you to tell him; you know how important honesty is to that family. Bianca was the same way, but you wouldn't have known her. Not to mention how insecure that kid is. He probably just figured a hunk like you was stooping down a level to be with him, you know?" 

"But that's crazy! Nico's gorgeous!" Jason defended, promptly shutting his mouth and trying to ignore the heat that flooded his face. 

He sighed. "I know I need to apologize, but I'm just...scared. I really, really like him, and-" 

"Then go! Fight for him!" Thalia interrupted, standing up and gesturing wildly. "Stop sitting on your ass and aim for your target! Pull back the string and shoot, Jason!" 

"I'm not an archer," he muttered. 

"It's a metaphor," she huffed, "and the point still stands. Even if Nico wants to break up forever -which he doesn't, by the way- , you owe it to him to at least make it a decent, clean one. Waiting isn't helping anything." 

"How exactly am I supposed to win him back?" He asked desperately. 

"Hazel would help, you know that. And he did say you're still welcome to stay in his house. You should have seen how panicked he was this morning, thinking you were going to stay with your dad again," Reyna chimed in. 

"Why would you do that, you idiot?" Thalia screeched, kicking him in the shin. "Do you like being pushed around like some puppet, huh?"

"Obviously not, and I never really considered it. I was just afraid of seeing him again, alright? I still am!" 

"Tough luck, little brother. Woman up, and go win back your boy toy with some cutesy stunt. I want to hear about it in Percy's next fanfic update."

"You read Percy's fanfiction?" Jason squeaked as Thalia pushed him towards the door. 

"He sends it to me to edit when Annabeth is busy," she confessed. "But that doesn't matter right now."

"But I don't know what to do!" 

"Still, you're off your butt, right? That's a step ahead from ten minutes ago," she pointed out. 

He inhaled deeply. "You're right. Thanks, Thalia." 

She looked at him in the hallway, the dim lighting only accentuating her electric eyes. 

"I've missed you a lot, Jay," she said softly. "As soon as this boyfriend thing is done, call me okay? We can meet up for a day and talk before I have to leave." 

"I've missed you too, Thalia. It's so great to see you, really." They hugged, each with enough force to snap a few bones, but they were the Grace siblings, so they endured it. 

"Always glad to help my little brother through a crisis," she chuckled, ruffling his hair. "What kind of big sister would I be if I didn't?" 

"Thalia? Can I ask you a question?" 

"Shoot."

"Didn't you swear off relationships when you joined that archery club at Stanford?" 

She snorted. "I swore off men, and anything that gets in the way of the club. Haven't regretted it." 

"So, uh, are you and Reyna...a thing?" 

Thalia's eyes widened, and she shifted from one foot to the other. 

"Um...no? We write letters to each other and stuff and go to each other's athletic competitions, and she's really pretty and intimidating and so am I so we make a good team..." Jason smiled. Even though the idea of them being together in that way was super weird, he was glad that Thalia had somebody to keep her on her toes. This was the most awkward he'd seen her in years. 

"So you've seen her kickboxing, then? What'd you think?" 

"You told me she was good, Jason," Thalia leaned in, "but you didn't tell me how good." 

"Good luck with that," he laughed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Seriously. I think you two will make the scariest couple I've ever seen." 

"Oh, no doubt. We'll make the universe revolve around us, huh?" She chuckled again, hugging him one more time. "I'm serious about us hanging, though. I need more dirt on Percy." 

"What did you just say, Thalia?" 

"I need more dirt on Percy," she repeated. "You're not new to blackmail, Jason, come on-" 

"No, no, before that," Jason interrupted. He had some nagging feeling in his head, the beginnings of some thoughts that might just form a plan if he grabbed them in time. 

"We'll make the universe revolve around us? I guess it was slightly poetic for me, but I actually meant it. World domination before I'm twenty, that's the goal." 

Jason's eyes widened. "Thalia, that's it!" 

"What is?" She asked in confusion, as Reyna poked her head out of her door. "World domination?" 

"What's with the outburst?" Reyna asked dryly. 

Jason looked at her seriously. 

"Reyna, I need twenty dollars. I'm going to the craft store." 

"Why?" 

"I'm going to try to win Nico back, of course!" He cried, holding out his hand. Thalia squinted at him as Reyna sighed and pulled out her wallet.

"You're going to win back your boyfriend...with crafts?" His sister asked in confusion. 

"Yes!" He exclaimed, snatching the twenty out of Reyna's hands and clutching it to his chest. 

"Jason, that seems a little far fetched." Reyna scratched her head and looked at him seriously. "Nico can occasionally appreciate embroidery, but you can't just knit someone an apology." 

"I'm not going to knit, Reyna!" Jason was utterly flabbergasted by the incredulous looks on their faces; couldn't they see that this was exactly how to win him back? It was the best shot, at least. 

Nico didn't deserve an apology that just anyone could do. He didn't need any grand gestures or speeches that could have been copied out of a romantic comedy. He needed an apology that was completely, originally Jason. No help from anyone else. 

Annabeth would tell him to logically explain the situation. Percy would want a grand gesture that made it clear just how far Jason was willing to go; climbing the water tower, probably. His friends would have good ideas, of course, but their suggestions were exactly what got him into this situation in the first place. Jason had to man up, and do this himself. 

"I'm not going to knit," he explained. "I'm going to do a science project."  
~*~  
It had taken him four hours, but it was done. Jason had won the science fair multiple times, after all. If he couldn't do something this simple, he'd never show his face in AP classes again. 

It was wrapped up and in his car. He reached for his phone and dialed Hazel, hoping that she wasn't too busy to pick up. This needed to be done at the right time, after all. 

"Jason!" She picked up after the fourth ring, and he sighed in relief. 

"How is he?" He asked immediately. "I already talked to Reyna, but I just-"

She sighed. "He's not heartbroken, Jason. He knows that you still like him, but he's just...hurt, and angry. Not just at you, though. He's angry at everyone involved, but he's been self-conscious about your relationship since the beginning, and that plus the whole experiment was just a recipe for disaster. He's embarrassed, and he's confused, but he doesn't hate you or anything. I don't think he wants to break up, but now he thinks you do." 

"Me?" Jason gasped, shifting the phone closer to his ear. "Why would I want to break up with him? I've spent the last two days trying to think of a way to apologize to him!" 

"I know that, and deep down Nico knows it too. But you know how he gets, Jason! Now that he knows that you only approached him because of the experiment, he's been reevaluating every experience the two of you have ever shared. He's worried that you'll want to call it off, and move on to somebody else. Somebody with more mystery. Maybe even a girl, for all he knows." 

"But that's ridiculous! Why would I want anybody else, now that I've been with Nico? And why the heck is he so worried about me moving on with a girl, of all the scenarios? He knows that I'm bisexual, and he said he was fine with it. Wait. Is he not fine with it?" 

She sighed again, and Jason felt his heart drop just a bit. The thought of Nico staying up and worrying about stuff like this was just upsetting. The thought of Nico worrying about anything upset Jason, to be quite honest, but now he was worried that he ever made Nico worry about how he might want to move on. 

"Jason, I was talking to him about it, and I do get it. He's fine with you being bisexual, we're all fine with you being bisexual, I'm pretty sure 95% of our friends are bisexual, and there is nothing wrong with being bisexual. He's just overthinking things again; you know how his anxiety gets. He saw the word 'experiment', and realized that he was an experiment, and then he started worrying that you were just experimenting." 

"What? No!" Jason cried into the phone, pulling over and putting her on speaker. "Hazel, I would never do that to him. Never, in a million years." 

"I just feel so awful about this whole thing," she whispered. "I told them that he didn't need to be an experiment, but I just got swept along in the idea of helping him make friends. What kind of a sister am I?" 

"The best kind," he assured her. "We all did this, Hazel, and I'm going to do my best to undo it." 

"Will you hurry? Please? I hate seeing him like this, Jason." 

"I will," he promised. "But there's one thing I have to take care of first. When you see Nico, will you tell him that I'm finally facing things? Tell him that I'm not ashamed of him, and that I'd tell anyone. Anyone, Hazel." 

She gasped. "Jason, are you-" 

"Yeah," he gulped. "I'm going to go tell my parents that I'm in love."   
~*~  
Getting out of his car and ringing the doorbell to his own house took more guts than he thought. 

When nobody answered, he took a deep breath and went inside himself. 

Juno was exactly where he expected her to be, seated at the kitchen table with a glass of wine beside her and legal documents in the front. She prided herself on being a trophy wife, but when it came down to it (when his father was gone for too long, more like) she could hold her own in the court. Divorces and other domestic disputes were her specialty. To hear his parents tell it, that was how they fell into a hasty marriage. He was the dashing member of the jury who insisted that he had more important places to be, and she was the cold attorney who ripped a witness to shreds. It made Jason sad to see her like this, with a resigned look on her face and no light in her eyes. 

He wasn't sure if it was age that took the fire from her face, or the burden of helping people escape bad marriages when her own was falling apart (more like it was never together to begin with). 

Jason wasn't sure it mattered. 

He cleared his throat, and her eyes glanced up lazily. 

"Finally finished with your tantrum, and decided to move back in? Don't think I didn't notice that your stuff was missing," she said simply, and he shook his head. 

"I need to tell you something," he said, and her eyes widened slightly. 

"Sit down," she invited, but he just leaned against the doorway and stuffed his hands in his pockets. 

"Where's my dad?" 

She sniffed. "Probably Taiwan, by now." 

"He left?" Jason sighed, wishing that he still had it in him to be disappointed when his father refused to act like...well, a father. 

"Yes, but he should be back by next week. I'm heading out for a vacation myself in a few days; somewhere warm, and expensive. You can handle yourself for a week, right?" 

"I'll just stay with my...friend," he said, taking a deep breath and trying to summon up the courage to tell her the truth. 

"Which friend?" She asked in a disinterested voice, gazing at her nails. 

"Nico. Nico di Angelo." 

She stiffened. "Well, I'm sure he's a lot, um, friendlier than he seems. Hopefully more so than his father, anyway." 

"Oh, he is," Jason promised awkwardly. "Really, really friendly. Especially with me. We are...friends. Very good friends." 

Juno rolled her eyes. "I thought there was something you wanted to tell me?" 

"I'm dating Nico di Angelo, and I think I'm in love with him," he blurted. 

Her eyes widened, as the rest of her face slackened. 

"Come again?" 

"We started dating a while ago, and we've gotten really close." 

"Jason, please tell me this is a joke," she muttered, massaging her temples. "It's not a funny one, mind you."

"It's not," he insisted. "Nico is everything I want, I swear. I just thought you should know." 

"What about Piper?" Juno was clearly grasping for straws her. "Reyna? Beautiful girls, Jason, and I'm sure they'd both date you at the drop of a hat. There's no need for this rebellion." 

"It's not a rebellion," Jason stated. "Piper and I didn't work, and you know that. And Reyna? Reyna is pretty much in the same boat as me, if not a little bit more so." 

Juno stood up and leaned against the fridge. 

"I don't even care anymore," she said abruptly, startling him. "Do whatever you want. Ruin your own life, Jason, and then come crawling back here when you're done with your phase." 

It was a lot better than Jason had hoped for, but it didn't feel like a victory. This felt like his family throwing up their hands and going "You know how teens are. He'll be over it in a month!"

Jason knew that he wouldn't be, though. He'd never be over Nico, ensnared as he was. All they could do was watch him waltz into the sunset (hopefully with his boyfriend) and eventually they might realize that they were the phase all along. Pretending to be the perfect child was the phase. This was not. It may be rebellion in the most primal sense, but it wasn't anything temporary. He wasn't going to fall back once he saw that they weren't fighting. Reverse psychology be damned, he was letting go of everything holding him down. 

It was time for Jason Grace to drop the weight and fly. 

"Anything else?" Juno asked in a clipped tone, pulling a bottle of wine out of the fridge. 

"Oh, yeah." Jason grinned. "Thalia's in town. She told me to say hi."   
~*~  
The drive to Nico's felt like the longest thing Jason had ever done, but in reality it was more like ten minutes. He texted Hazel and told her what he needed (fifteen minutes in the guest room, alone) and she told him that she'd do her best. She took Nico out for ice cream, and promised to bring Jason back a cup. 

He hauled the project up the stairs, almost expecting to trip and break it because, you know, irony. He didn't, though, which was good. 

He dropped pieces of paper behind him, little arrows and signs pointing the way, just so Nico didn't have an excuse to make him wait. 

Setting up was nerve wracking, but he'd done it before at science fairs. He was used to it. It was methodical and mindless, which was exactly what he needed. He was starting to sweat, he was so nervous, and then he got nervous about Nico noticing he was sweating, so he started to sweat some more. 

Hazel texted him. They were in the driveway.

Jason breathed in deep, exhaling through his nose and trying to calm down. Freaking out now wouldn't help anything. He had to be calm when he talked to Nico. He had to explain rationally what had happened and do his best to logically explain, and-

Footsteps.

Jason wheeled backwards and tried to find the perfect place to stand amidst all the orbs and strings that were slowly turning around the room. He'd purposefully measured the full rotation of most of them, and set up a small zone where it was impossible for Nico to get hit. He hadn't thought about their height difference much, and was just hoping that he wouldn't get smacked in the head in the middle of his speech. 

Nico should be entering the hallway about now; Jason had dropped maybe thirty arrows, all maybe a foot apart. If Nico's normal stride was a foot and a half due to his slow pace, then-

Nope. Jason couldn't try to distract himself with math problems. Not this time.

Beneath the door, he could see the shadow of Nico's shoes against the carpet.

Three...

The doorknob began to turn, slowly. 

Two...

The door was swinging inwards, and Jason's heart was in his chest. 

One...

A pair of dark eyes peered at him, and he gulped as the door swung in the rest of the way.

Zero. 

And there was Nico. 

His lips were pulled uncertainly to the right, like they always were when he was contemplating. His eyes were squinted in mistrust and shyness as he lingered over the doorway, but they quickly widened in amazement at the sight behind Jason. 

Who, by the way, suddenly found it very, very hard to breathe.

"H-hi," he stuttered, wiping his suddenly sweaty hands off on his pants. 

Nico didn't say anything, instead peering around the room in wonder. Jason tried to see it through his eyes, for a few seconds. 

See, Jason had decided that he needed something tied to his personality to apologize with. Whenever anyone mentioned Jason, they usually brought up one thing. 

Science. 

He'd written off the potato clock and paper mâché volcano for obvious reasons, but one idea just wouldn't get out of his head. 

The solar system. 

So, that was what he did. One trip to the craft store has gotten him all the supplies, and from there it was child's play to paint and hang all the foam planets in the right places. He hung counterweights on strings to keep them turning constantly in the correct rotation, with Mercury constantly in danger of crashing into his head. Plastic stars were stuck haphazardly on the ceiling, since he just didn't have the time to make an accurate replica of most of the constellations.

He did make one, though. Aquila, the eagle. 

Nico's eyes were immediately drawn to it, and Jason could almost see his quick inhale. That was a good sign. 

"What's all this?" He said cautiously, stepping into the room. 

"An apology," Jason admitted. "For being a terrible person, and an even worse boyfriend." 

Nico shuffled back and forth from one foot to the other, seemingly unable to keep himself from looking at the planets. 

"It's...detailed," he commented, and Jason stood up a little straighter. 

"It's how I won the science fair my first year," he confessed. "I didn't have time to build a motor and gears to keep it accurately spinning, but I did my best on the painting. You said that you liked how into science I was...so I thought this would be best."

Nico took another step forward, shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing down. Jason inhaled deeply. 

"I should have told you about...well, you know. And I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make excuses, but it honestly slipped out of mind after a few days. You were just really cute, and after we started talking I realized how much I liked you, and-" 

"Hazel told me everything," Nico said bluntly. "I know that everyone was in on it. It wasn't just you."

"I still should have told you, though! I-I made you feel like you were nothing but a project, Nico. I never meant to do that, never in a million years. You were never an experiment to me. Not for any reason." 

Nico flushed. "If you're referencing something I told Hazel in confidence, then-"

"It doesn't matter," Jason stressed. "I...I couldn't move on to anybody, Nico. They'd never measure up to you, no matter how hard they tried."

"I heard that you were going to be staying at your father's again," Nico cut in, and Jason tried not to deflate at the obvious subject change. 

"Not if this place is still an option. But I did go back." 

"Why?" 

"I told Juno something that needed to be said." 

Nico visibly hesitated. "What was that?" 

"I told her...I told her that I love you. That it wasn't a phase, and that I wasn't afraid who knows." 

"Jason, stop," Nico whispered. "Don't- don't say that. You can't say that." 

"Why not? It's the truth. I love you, Nico, and I always will. Even if you don't want to be my boyfriend anymore."

Jason leaned forward and stretched out his hand, gesturing gently until Nico placed his hand in Jason's own. 

"I never said I didn't want to be your boyfriend anymore," Nico muttered as Jason pulled him forward. "You don't have to tell me that you love me to make me stay." 

"It's not a lie, Nico," Jason insisted, pulling the smaller boy close to his chest. "You're smart, funny, kind, and completely, breathtakingly gorgeous. You care about people so deeply, and once you do there's no going back. You are completely unique, and I don't want to be without you. I love you." 

Nico let his forehead thump against Jason's chest, and his arms slowly snuck themselves around Jason's waist. Jason figured that now was as good a time as any; he dug into his back pocket, found his old IPod, and pressed play. 

"This song..." Nico started. 

"Yeah," Jason finished. "I thought it fit perfectly." 

Jason brought his arms down to rest on Nico's neck, letting them dangle as he started to sway to the soft beat. Nico chose that moment to speak up.

"It's not just you, you know." 

"Excuse me?" 

Nico looked up, staring intently. 

"I-I really like you, Jason. You're a hopeless romantic, a gentleman, and you always know the right thing to say. I always get nervous around you, and sometimes it's hard to believe that you like...that you're in love...with me." 

"Well, I already gave you my reasons. And I'm not taking any of them back." 

"That's okay." 

"So...am I forgiven?" 

Nico's eyes were wide, his pupils dilated as he licked his lips nervously. 

"Of course. Just...don't lie to me again. Tell me what you think, and don't hold back." 

"Don't worry," Jason promised, holding him closer. "I'm going to treat you right, Nico. I don't want you to ever feel like I don't love you again." 

"Somehow, I don't think that's going to be a problem." 

Jason put his hand under Nico's chin and titled it up, until they were both staring up at the blank spot on the ceiling. 

"You'll notice that I didn't include the sun in this presentation." 

"If you're about to make a joke, I will-"

"I didn't include the sun," Jason told him as he pressed their foreheads together, "because you are the center of my universe." 

"That's physically impossible," Nico muttered. 

"I'm trying to be romantic, here," Jason growled, going in for a kiss. 

"Oh, you're doing a great job." Nico smiled against his lips, and Jason swore that he could die happy, right then and there. 

Nico pulled away from the kiss. "In case it wasn't obvious, I love you too."

Jason couldn't help but smile.


End file.
